ING Overview
Discuss about the Corporate Governance And Ethics of ING.
An ING is a n Australia bank that operates in a series of controlled entities. During the year between the 2004 and 2009, Subramaniam, a senior financial accountant transferred funds from the numerous ING corporate to numerous personal accounts. Additionally, she gave cash as gift to numerous individuals. The total expenditure over the 5 years amounted to $ 45, 388, 249 reflecting an amount obtained thought the deception cases. Rajina was arrested on October 2009 and made full admission of her deed. She claimed that her behavior was attributable to sexual abuse during the childhood and degree of resentment that she harbored against specific individuals at work. It clear that she underwent sexual-abusing history with paternal grandfather. Additionally, she claimed that she had been subjected to sexual abuse by one of the senior managers in ING over the several years.
In the contemporary world, there has been a significant concern about the standards of corporate governance. According to the company laws, the managers are obliged to do in the unsurpassed interest of the stakeholders, but there have been numerous cases where discover of incongruity to such duties. There has been numerous circumstances of extreme debt financing spiked with deception, uneven rise in payment for senior manager, which has been less open and apparent such as the case of Rajina in ING. The corporate governance is a mixture of strong pledge of the administration to protect the interest of several investors, sincerity in notions and business ethics. Thus, it offers a broad parameter of accountability, reporting and control system by the management and it entails the interactive relationship among several components in the determining the way, and corporate performances. It is quite indisputable fact that, ING’s scandals and scams are progressively undermining human existence at the company and community. Thus, one of the urgent jobs of current times is to comprehend the implications of corporate degradation and failures. The issues and challenges, before the corporate industry have never been as unpredictable and turbulent as they are currently. The suitable governance of firms is as important to the world economy as an apt governing of nations (Tricker and Tricker 2015, pp. 34).
According to the Milton proposed a guideline for business ethics. He suggest that the only way for the company’s social accountability is to use possessions and engage in operations intended to raise its incomes as long as it stay in the rule of the game, which is to mean, engage in open competition, without fraud or deception (Davies 2016, pp. pp. 14). However, even though Friedman clearly suggest that managers as representatives have to play within the rule of the game; stills leave the space for unprincipled behavior. An additional question is whether ING should participate in socially accountable actions. He argues that managers cannot perform in any way to improve incomes and that corporation should participate in publically accountable operations as it should have a secondary positive influence on the organizational act. Point from Friedman is that of direct form of capitalism and against any operations that distorts economic freedom (Crane and Matten 2016, pp. 63). Communally responsible operations of the firm, according to the Friedman, financial liberty as stakeholders are not capable to choose how their asset will be spent. The scholar contends that corporate should concentrate on those courses that are casually connected to business profit efficiently; not including the charitable operations that do not openly creates the returns.
Rajina Subramaniam
ING Bank (Australia) Limited (trading as ING) is an Australian direct bank and a wholly owned subsidiary of the multinational Dutch bank, ING Group.
ING operates as a series of controlled entities: trusts and the primary bank division, ING, which operates under the segments of Mortgages, Savings, Everyday Banking, Consumer Lending, Superannuation, Insurance and Commercial Lending
Rajina Subramaniam was employed for 20 years with ING Holdings Australia Ltd as a senior financial accountant.
Between 16 July 2004 and 24 September 2009, by using many illegal means, Subramaniam transferred funds from numerous ING corporate accounts to either various accounts in her own or directly into the retailer’s accounts for the purchase of luxury goods, and services. Her workplace e-mail address was provided to those retailers, and she accessed to the ING corporate accounts by using the security details of former staffs.
She also transferred enormous amounts of currency for purchasing real estate. Eight properties were purchased under her name to the total worth of $17 million. All those properties remained unoccupied, except for one which was provided rent-free for one of her friend.
In addition, Subramaniam gave cash as gifts to many people, including shop assistants with whom she befriended due to her frequent luxurious purchases. Most of the luxury goods purchased was found unboxed at her workplace under the desk. Some items had been gifted to shop assistants, particularly at Paspaley where Subramaniam was well known.
The total expenditure over the five-year period amounted to $45,388,249.00. This amount is reflected in the obtain benefit by deception offences.
Rajina Subramaniam was arrested on 4 October 2009. She made full admissions against legal advice on the day of her arrest. Her husband was ignorant of her offending. Subramaniam claimed that her behavior was attributable to sexual abuse during her childhood and a degree of resentment that she harbored against certain people at work.
ING has seized all the goods and property the subject of the offences. After her arrest, Subramaniam entered into a deed of arrangement with ING as to the transfer of the properties and the sale of the seized items. Property belonging to Subramaniam and her husband which was not related to the fraud was also transferred to ING.
Rajina Subramaniam was born in Fiji in 1969. She grew up with her family in Nadi before emigrating to Australia in 1977. Subramaniam was educated to HSC standard, then she attended TAFE and got her diploma in accountancy. Subramaniam joined ING in 1989 as an accounts clerk for around five years. Soon after she met her husband, who was also an accountant with the organization but then left to work for a different company in 2006. Subramaniam took over her husband position as a senior financial accountant after working as an assistant accountant for 10 years.
Subramaniam’s responsibilities normally involved payroll accounting, directors’ fees, reconciliations and accounts payable. After Subramaniam’s previous senior manager left; a new manager filled the position but failed to communicate sufficiently with her. According to Subramaniam, her senior manager’s attitude towards the department, and her work has caused in her a high degree of stress. According Subramaniam, her pay was never as good as her spouse’s salary when he employed the same position. She was not offered redundancy despite wanting it.
Subramaniam revealed her sexual-abusing history with her paternal grandfather. The abuse was claimed to have happened over numerous years. Subramaniam did not say anything to her parents, although she did to her husband before their marriage. He advised that she should see a psychologist. Subramaniam attended on some occasions but then gave up due to session’s difficulty
In addition, Subramaniam claimed said that she had been subjected to sexual abuse by one of the senior managers in ING over several years, and she had to comply his wishes for she believed that her husband would suffer if she did not. In addition, she and her husband, together with the manager had engaged in group sexual activities. Even when her husband left the company, she continued having sexual intercourse with her manager, unbeknown her husband. During this period, she claimed to feel humiliated and shamed and became immensely depressed.
According to a psychologist, Anita Duffy, Subramaniam’s extravagant spending provided her with a sense of importance and self-respect. Her relationships with the staff of the retail outlets allowed her to escape the stress and despair that she felt in the workplace.
DR Allnutt described the Subramaniam as manifesting “relatively inflexible and pervasive personality traits that. caused significant impairment in her social and occupational functioning; she does not fall into any particular personality diagnostic category but does manifest a number of traits from various categories of personality disorder”. Subramaniam’s sexual abuse in childhood was considered material in the expansion of her personality disorder. She had extremely poor self-esteem, due in part to the sexual abuse she had allegedly experienced as a child at the hands of her grandfather and two uncles.
The scale of the frauds committed by Subramaniam is breathtaking. It essential however be acknowledged that Subramaniam’s offending was unusual in nature. She made no effort to cover up the transactions whereby she deposited cash into her own accounts ; she frequently bought the most expensive jewelry and luxury goods from the same sellers and gave them her work email address ; she made no effort to use or derive income from any of the property she bought ; none of the items bought were used by her, other than as presents to virtually casual acquaintances ; the “gift” of $1.3 million to a shop assistant was strange, and is consistent with her wanting to be loved and accepted. Rajina Subramaniam’s crime – the largest case of fraud by a woman in Australia’s history – was not driven by greed, but by a desire for affection.
Conclusion
Scale of the frauds committed by Rajina is breathtaking. It is essential to acknowledge that her offence was unusual in nature. She made no effort to cover up the transaction whereby she deposited cash into her accounts. It is clear she made no effort to cover up the transaction where she deposited the amount into her own accounts. Similarly, she made no effort to derive income from any of the property she purchased. The gift she gave to shop assistant was eccentric and it proves to be consistent with her wanting to be accepted and loved. Thus, the largest case of fraud committed by Rajina Subramaniam is in Australia history which was driven by desire for affection not greed.
Friedman debated intensely against using owner’s cash for any activities that does not back stakeholder’s profit (ArAs 2016, pp. 25). The Rajina has duty to look after the shareholder’s interest, which is to seek maximization of wealth. In the opinion of the Friedman, a socially responsible operation, ought to minimize the wealth, and thus corporate should not involve in any charitable course. With regard to the social-economic opinion, firms should make the better for the largest number of individuals. Succeeding a utilitarian stand of believe, this view embraces that ING should participate in socially accountable actions because it exploits the capital of all shareholders. In the diverse and dynamic environment, the systems of corporate governance ought to improve. The recommendations reached by this paper will go along raising the standards of corporate governance in the ING and making them the attractive center for both local and global capital. The recommendation also form the basis for further improvement of the ING’s corporate governance structure in consonance with the rapidly changing industrial and economic environment of the nation in the novel millennium.
References
ArAs, G., 2016. A handbook of corporate governance and social responsibility. CRC Press, pp. 24-28.
Crane, A. and Matten, D., 2016. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press, pp. 61-66.
Davies, A., 2016. Best practice in corporate governance: Building reputation and sustainable success. Routledge, pp. 12-19.
Tricker, R.B. and Tricker, R.I., 2015. Corporate governance: Principles, policies, and practices. Oxford University Press, USA, pp. 33-39.
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