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New survey confirms what everybody hates about Wall Street

A new survey of Wall Street ethics finds widespread pressure to violate laws on ethics to get ahead

Five Years After Start Of Financial Crisis, Wall Street Continues To Hum

Wall Street bankers are feeling a greater willingness to violate laws and ethics to get ahead, according to a new survey that finds no discernible impact from years of record fines and tightened regulations.

One-quarter of respondents said they would violate insider trading laws to make a $10 million return as long as they knew they wouldn’t get caught, according to a survey of 1,200 financial professionals conducted by University of Notre Dame at the behest of the law firm Labaton Sucharow. That was actually a slight uptick from the previous survey, when the percentage stood at 24%.

Respondents weren’t exactly impressed with regulatory oversight either. Nearly half deemed the regulatory agencies ineffective at detecting and prosecuting illicit behavior.