The World’s Only Independent Think Tank
focused on Financial Ethics

Seven Pillars Institute
for Global Finance and Ethics

Purpose > Profit

Finance is an Industry with a higher purpose than profit.

Seven Pillars Institute (SPI) is an independent think tank for research, education, and promotion of financial ethics. We are affiliated with the University of London – Queen Mary College.

About Seven Pillars

Education in
Financial Ethics

Academia

Aristotle believed ethics education starts from early childhood. SPI provides resources and teaching aids on ethics in finance for academics and students.

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To Support
Professional Practice

Business

SPI educates professionals about the theory and application of financial ethics. We provide an ethics edge when it comes to spotting ethical issues, problem-solving and decision making.

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& Influence Ethical Progress on a Systemic Level

Government

All levels of government should instill and apply ethics when engaging in financial activities. SPI offers ongoing education and professional speaking engagements.

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Ethics in Finance is Good

Support Our Continuity & Mission

Our mission is to promote and enhance the practice of ethics in finance, our quest, to make ethics an integral part of finance theory. Our research and educational resources are free to all users. SPI serves as the space for new ideas. Help us achieve our mission and quest with your financial support.





Our Resources

Industry leading resources are free to access with the support of our generous donors.

Case Studies

Rigorous analyses of diverse ethics cases.

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Ethics 101

The history and basics of ethics.

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Video Ethics Training

Our video series for financial ethics training.

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Journal

Moral Cents is the only financial ethics journal publishing articles in the field.

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Textbooks

Textbooks and book chapters authored by SPI’s President, Dr. Kara Tan Bhala.

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Dictionary

A comprehensive finance and ethics dictionary for all users.

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Speaking Engagements

Dr. Kara Tan Bhala has over 23 years of experience on the sell side and buy side of the finance industry, and years of training in moral philosophy. She has given speeches and lectures on financial ethics at universities, government institutions, and NGOs around the world.

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Bursa Malaysia

Stock Exchange of Malaysia

Keynote – Women in International Business

International Trade Council of Kansas City

Financial Ethics in the Age of Trump

University of Auckland School of Law

The Global Business Ethics Symposium

Bentley University

The Transparency Symposium

Mercer Consulting


Books

Amazon Bestseller: Ethics in Finance

Ethics in Finance: Case Studies from a Woman’s Life on Wall Street (2nd.Edition)

Dr. Tan Bhala’s latest book Ethics in Finance: Case Studies from a Woman’s Life on Wall Street (2nd.Edition), won five book awards and is an Amazon bestseller. The book captures true stories of an immigrant Asian American woman’s journey through the top echelons of Wall Street finance, with enduring lessons about ethics from her 30 years of experience (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023).  

 

Winner of the UK Business Book Awards 2022, best book in the International Business Book category

Bronze medal recipient of the US Axiom Business Book Awards 2022 in the Business Ethics category                       Book Awards                                                   

Finalist, International Book Awards 2022 (US)

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International Investment Management

Read the new and original book lead-authored by Seven Pillars Institute’s President, Dr. Kara Tan Bhala. The book synthesizes three theories of finance and gives a lucid explanation of ethics and its real-world application in investment management.

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The Business of Ethics

Dr. Kara Tan Bhala, President of Seven Pillars Institute, contributed a chapter to this handy, engaging and readily accessible volume. Contributors to the book span the academy, financial services, and industry. They include Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank and originator of social business and microcredit, Charles Hamden-Turner the creator of Dilemma Theory and Emmanuel Lulin, Chief Ethics Officer of L’Oreal.

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Research Handbook on Law and Ethics in Banking and Finance

Research Handbook on Law and Ethics in Banking and Finance

Dr. Kara Tan Bhala authored a chapter “The Philosophical Foundations of Financial Ethics” in recently published Research Handbook on Law and Ethics in Banking and Finance, edited by Constanza Russo, Rosa Lastra, and William Blair. The editors and contributors are impressive experts in their fields. Sir Ross Cranston hails the book as a “tour de force in considering how ethical considerations can inform the financial system”.

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new book from transparency task force

Why We Must Rebuild Trustworthiness and Confidence in Financial Services; and How We Can Do It

Dr. Kara Tan Bhala contributed a chapter “Teaching Virtues in Finance Programs of Business Schools” to the book, Why We Must Rebuild Trustworthiness and Confidence in Financial Services; and How We Can Do It. She also was invited to write the foreword to the volume.

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Our Supporters

Warren and Lisa Yeh

Louis and Kathy Mendes


      

Collaboration with Queen Mary University of London

Seven Pillars Institute for Global Finance and Ethics (SPI) and the Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS) at Queen Mary University of London have a collaborative affiliation in their work on ethics, law, and regulation in finance. The goal of the collaboration is to foster a dialogue on important ethical policy issues affecting the financial services industry.


The Prospect Think Tank Awards 2016 shortlisted and cited the research of Seven Pillars Institute (SPI) on climate change mitigation, praising its “deft work on eco-tourism”. The Awards are an annual recognition of the influential work carried out by think tanks across the globe.

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Ethics & Trust in Finance

Dr. Kara Tan Bhala, the Institute’s President, continues her role on the eminent Jury of the Ethics and Trust in Finance 9th Global Prize. The Jury awards the Ethics in Finance Prize to the best creative papers with analyses and proposals for innovative ways to promote ethics and trust in finance. The Jury also allocates the prize money of US$20,000 among the winners. The competition spans the globe, has run since 2006, and produced a global network of former Prize winners. The closing date for the 2022-2023 9th edition of the Global Prize is May 29th 2023.

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Recent Posts

Effective Altruism After Sam Bankman-Fried

By Kieran Dearden Effective Altruism (EA) is, effectively, the idea that if someone seeks to improve the world, it is rational to do so in the most efficient and effective… Read More

The Failure of Silicon Valley Bank

By Mai Huynh Silicon Valley Bank’s failure evokes unsettling parallels to the 2008 financial crisis. Just as Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy was a defining moment in the 2008 crisis, the failure… Read More

Financial Ethics 101: Conflict of Interest

By Londra Ademaj *A conflict of interest arises when personal or self-serving interests clash with an entity or individual’s professional duties or responsibilities, undermining their reliability. * Conflict of interest… Read More

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