One result of the FBI sting was that traders were required to attend ethics classes at the exchanges because I guess enough people didn't have the moral compass to know between right and wrong (shocking).
This 1990 NYT article describes it a bit further Traders to Get Ethics Classes
But to add a little visual for those who'd like a refresher, a CBOT member of that era dug out some old videos he found and uploaded them recently to youtube. The first couple videos are incredibly dry but the third is worth embedding because it has some great vintage footage of the bond room rockin! The third vid also focuses entirely on sexual harassment which isn't too surprising that a third of the ethics education had to deal w/preventing that.
CBOT Floor Ethics Training from 1999 (1 of 3)
CBOT Floor Ethics Training from 1999 (2 of 3)
At the CME, there was also an ethics class I remember taking as a clerk which was taught by older members. The only thing I can recall of it was that we were warned of taking 'freebies' of any trades or favors because, in the loudest voice the member teaching it could muster, "BECAUSE THEN THEY'LL HAVE YOU HOOKED AND YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO SAY NO!" For those that grew up in the 80s/90s will remember that the D.A.R.E. program also preached the same thing, free drugs to get you hooked. Turns out I never saw free drugs or free trades, guess it took looking for them first.
This 1990 NYT article describes it a bit further Traders to Get Ethics Classes
But to add a little visual for those who'd like a refresher, a CBOT member of that era dug out some old videos he found and uploaded them recently to youtube. The first couple videos are incredibly dry but the third is worth embedding because it has some great vintage footage of the bond room rockin! The third vid also focuses entirely on sexual harassment which isn't too surprising that a third of the ethics education had to deal w/preventing that.
CBOT Floor Ethics Training from 1999 (1 of 3)
CBOT Floor Ethics Training from 1999 (2 of 3)
At the CME, there was also an ethics class I remember taking as a clerk which was taught by older members. The only thing I can recall of it was that we were warned of taking 'freebies' of any trades or favors because, in the loudest voice the member teaching it could muster, "BECAUSE THEN THEY'LL HAVE YOU HOOKED AND YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO SAY NO!" For those that grew up in the 80s/90s will remember that the D.A.R.E. program also preached the same thing, free drugs to get you hooked. Turns out I never saw free drugs or free trades, guess it took looking for them first.
