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Nowadays, it's unquestionable that a firm should operate at a high level of ethics. Many firms have Ethics procedures to protect their reputation and benefit people beyond their walls. These procedures were established following previous ethics incidents that caused the demise of many great companies. In the early 2000s, the U.S. was battling a recession. The Federal Reserve lowered the federal fund rates, the rate at which banks borrow money; this created an opportunity for major banks and investors to gain access to loans that once were out of their reach. During that time, certain business regulations were absent and neglected. Mortgaged-backed securities (M.B.S.), which constituted of subprime mortgages, loans made to borrowers without proper financial qualifications, were widely promoted. Mortgage brokers were driven by bonuses received from lending, and financial institutions were highly leveraged in M.B.Ss and in unregulated over-the-counter derivatives that were used as insurance against M.B.Ss. In the movie margin call, the investment firm was highly leveraged in M.B.Ss while the housing market was slowly collapsing. Subprime loan borrowers defaulted, which caused many lenders to file for bankruptcy and eventually affected investors. As a result, the firm had to liquidate its investments to avoid taking an unbearable financial loss. The management team's decision to prevent the firm's downfall failed to account for the firm's integrity, social responsibility, and leadership implications. The firm failed to fulfill its integrity duty toward its clients. When the analyst, Peter Sullivan, discovered that the firm was operating beyond its risk level, the management team resorted to a decision that would put in peril the career of its employees, the reputation of the company, and the capital of investors. Since the firm was overleveraged in M.B.S.s, especially at market prices that were already inflated, they feared that even a drop as small as 25% would render the company worthless. Knowing that the market crash was imminent, given the current state of the housing market at the time, they were willing to drag everyone else down to mitigate their own risk and not be left holding the bag. The company's integrity and transparency were out of the picture. Everyone from leadership to traders was encouraged to clear the books by selling to any accounts and clients, leaving out information about the turmoil faced by the company and the impact of their purchase. Major Banks such as Deutsche, merry lynch, and more were offered to purchase millions of 30 years fixed maturity bond contracts at any price possible before the market opened. The selling of these contracts at the opening bell created a snowball effect. Major Banks that believed their purchased price was at a discount realized their acquired prices were too high, forcing them to sell to other investors and banks. The firm forwent its obligation to protect its investors and instead used them to escape its investment mistakes. Although the company goal was a success by the closing bell, their brands will be destroyed and will never be able to regain any clients' trust. The firm financial success supersedes its social responsibility. Tuld knew the implication of having a fire sale and decided to move forward with his plan. The majority of the management team was on board except for Sam before greed clouded his judgment. The fire sale would collapse the financial market, cause layoffs and destroy many investors' portfolios. The first socially irresponsible action by the team was to lay off the backbone of the firm, the employees. Employees were given unfair treatment compared to the higher-ups. The employees worked effortlessly to build relationships with clients and secure deals, and they were the first ones to be fired. Meanwhile, management was paid millions in benefit packages and wasn't laid off. Secondly, the firm didn't account for the impact on the mass population. The average workers rely on the market's well-being in order for their retirement accounts to thrive. Before initiating the fire sale, the management team knew that it would take several years for the market to recover. This implies that retirement accounts were to decrease substantially in value and hurt people who rely on these securities for years to come. The C.E.O. believed in order to be successful, they needed to be "first, smart or cheat." He abides by these principles rather than the proper business ethics. Tuld noticed the warning sign in many other financial industry leaders and decided they should be first at crashing the market instead of being at the mercy of other market participants. The firm survival was the most important than society as a whole. The firm violation of business ethics practices was due to poor leadership. Top management should set examples for the rest of the company. They have to implement ethical procedures regarding their business practices and ensure that everyone else follows the same guideline to promote a healthy environment. Throughout the movie, there is a lack of accountability among the management members of the firm. The chief risk management officer, Sarah Robertson, has presented countless warning signs about their risk level to the C.E.O., John Tuld, and Jared Cohen, who never took action to remedy the situation. As a result, when they found out the scale of the issue in the risk report, they wanted to scapegoat Sarah in case everything went terribly wrong with their liquidation. Additionally, the management team also discourages honesty and transparency through the use of bribery. The following morning when the traders came into the office, the head of sales, Sam roger, made it clear that the firm intended to liquidate their assets. Soon after the announcement, he guaranteed a $1.4 million bonus to every trader who successfully sold 93% of their asset class and a surplus of $1.3 million bonus for everyone if their collective sale reached 93%. Eager to earn a bonus, their sales team reached out to their clients and urged them to invest in securities that were no longer profitable. They didn't provide clear backing for their unexpected investment advice and alluded to their loss as their clients' gain. The management team members also received compensation packages with health care benefits and numerous options contracts to work with the company longer. The firm had proprietary information about the market and judged best to be the first to start the turmoil in the financial. Top management was willing to encourage toxic business practices and disregarded their duty toward their clients. The movie margin call shed light on the brutal truth behind the curtain of Wall Street in a time of crisis. Ethical principles weigh less than companies' financial well-being. The workforce often experiences the initial impact as they get laid off. Higher management earns bonuses at the expense of their clients and investors who contributed to their success. Bribery and other forms of compensation are used to encourage unethical behaviors. In the end, the firm was willing to weather the crisis by any means necessary, even If that entails losing its reputation and could never earn its client's trust.