Apart from insider trading, another ethical problem that continues to cause harm to innocent investors in the financial industry is conflict of interest. In reference to Boatright (2000), a conflict of interest occur when a person or an institution is unable to serve the interests of another party without any trace of bias or favour because of personal or institutional interests, when such a person or institution is legally or ethical bound to serve such interests. Bell, Friedman and Weiser (2005) observe that conflict of interest is one of the factors that have contributed to mismanagement in firms in the financial sector leading to massive losses for millions of investors in this sector. Importantly, the conflict of interest is an ethical problem since it forces an individual or institution in the financial sector to choose between serving his own interests or the interests of the people and/or institutions that have entrusted it with the responsibility of services their specific interests. For example, Richard A. Grasso, who worked as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) chairman between 1995 and 2003 engaged in a conflict of interest since whereas he was supposed to act as a regulator and as such, safeguard investors, he also on the payroll of NYSE members whom he was supposed to regulate (Bell, Friedman and Weiser, 2005). In such a position, it was difficult for him to protect investors since the largest portion of his earnings were from the NYSE members. Importantly, whereas one can argue from a deontology point of view that they will follow the law in discharging their duties without any form of bias, it is critical to observe that from a justice point of view, it is difficult for an individual engaged in a conflict of interest scenario to discharge justice since such an individual will seek to please all the parties involved irrespective of the fact that doing so could be harmful to one party.
除了内幕交易，另一个继续对金融业无辜投资者造成伤害的道德问题是利益冲突。关于Boatright（2000年），当一个人或一个机构由于个人或机构利益而无法在没有任何偏见或偏袒的情况下为另一方的利益服务时，就会发生利益冲突，而该个人或机构在法律上或道德上有义务为此类利益服务。Bell、Friedman和Weiser（2005）观察到，利益冲突是导致金融部门企业管理不善的因素之一，导致该部门数百万投资者蒙受巨大损失。重要的是，利益冲突是一个道德问题，因为它迫使金融部门的个人或机构在为自己的利益服务还是为人民和/或委托其为其特定利益服务的机构的利益服务之间做出选择。例如，1995年至2003年间担任纽约证券交易所（NYSE）主席的理查德·格拉索（Richard A.Grasso）卷入了一场利益冲突，因为他本应担任监管者，保护投资者，但同时他也负责管理NYSE成员的工资（Bell、Friedman和Weiser，2005）。在这种情况下，他很难保护投资者，因为他的大部分收入来自纽约证交所的会员。重要的是，尽管人们可以从义务论的角度认为，他们在履行职责时会遵循法律，不会有任何形式的偏见，但从正义的角度来看，观察这一点至关重要，参与利益冲突情景的个人很难伸张正义，因为这样的个人会寻求取悦所有相关方，而不管这样做可能对一方有害。
Apart from conflict of interest, another ethical issue that often arise in the financial industry is objectivity and independence. To begin with, objectivity is the financial sector is perceived as the ability of professionals in the financial sector to work without any mental bias that undermines the quality of the work and decisions (DiGabriele and Ojo, 2014). Similarly, independence in this particular case refers to the ability of professionals in the financial sector to carry out their duties without interference that could cause them to act in a biased way. Research and studies reveal that whereas the financial industry has established a code of conduct as well as regulations in order to promote objectivity and independence among its professionals, there are numerous cases whereas professionals in the industry have neither been objective or independent because of the influence of personal benefits such as some form of compensation or gifts, as well as personal relationships (Stewart and Subramaniam, 2010). In such cases, due to the influence of personal compensation, personal relationships or both, these professionals end up making decisions and acting in a way that injure the majority investors. For example, as a securities trader, it would be unethical to recommend that clients purchase certain stocks while one is disposing such stocks to avoid losses in a near future.
除了利益冲突之外，金融业中经常出现的另一个道德问题是客观性和独立性。首先，客观性是金融部门被视为金融部门专业人员在没有任何心理偏见的情况下工作的能力，这种心理偏见会破坏工作和决策的质量（DiGabriele和Ojo，2014）。同样，在这种特殊情况下，独立性指的是金融部门专业人员在不受干扰的情况下履行职责的能力，这种干扰可能导致他们的行为带有偏见。研究表明，尽管金融业已经制定了行为准则和条例，以促进其专业人员的客观性和独立性，有许多案例表明，由于某种形式的报酬或礼物以及人际关系等个人利益的影响，该行业的专业人士既不客观也不独立（Stewart和Subramaniam，2010）。在这种情况下，由于个人补偿、个人关系或两者的影响，这些专业人士最终做出的决策和行为伤害了大多数投资者。例如，作为一名证券交易员，建议客户在处置某些股票时购买这些股票以避免近期损失是不道德的。
Main ethical challenges when working in the finance industry 在金融行业工作时面临的主要道德挑战
There are a number of ethical challenges that one faces when working in the finance industry. One of these challenges is whistleblowing. In reference to Chiu (2003), whistleblowing involved the exposure of non-public information through nonconventional communication channels by an employee, either current or former, of an organisation with aim of protesting against the unethical behaviour and practices by the top management of the organisation. Arguably, whistleblowing has a myriad of its own challenges and risks including loss of employment, loss of employment benefits, social isolation and threats both physical and emotional to the person involved (Sekerka, Bagozzi and Charnigo, 2009).
在金融行业工作时，人们面临着许多道德挑战。其中一个挑战是举报。关于Chiu（2003年），告密涉及组织现任或前任员工通过非常规沟通渠道披露非公开信息，目的是抗议组织更高管理层的不道德行为和做法。可以说，检举本身有无数的挑战和风险，包括失去就业、失去就业福利、社会孤立以及对当事人的身体和精神威胁（Sekerka、Bagozzi和Charnigo，2009年）。