Professor Eugene F. Soltes (left) with Lisa Rosen

LONDON, UK: In recognition of International Anti-Corruption Day, the EBRD in London hosted a talk by Harvard Business School Professor, Eugene F. Soltes, 6 December 2018.  In his address he talked on: “What Drives the White Collar Criminal?”

The failings of corporate titans are regular fixtures in the news. But what drives wealthy and powerful people to white-collar crime? Professor Soltes drew from his extensive personal interaction and correspondence with nearly fifty former executives as well as the latest research in psychology, criminology, and economics to explain how once-celebrated executives become white-collar criminals.

He  highlighted the findings of his over seven years in the company of the men behind the largest corporate crimes in history which resulted in his 2016 book, Why They Do It: Inside the Mind of the White Collar Criminal –– a breakthrough look at the dark side of the business world.

Professor Soltes refutes popular but simplistic explanations of why seemingly successful executives engage in crime. White-collar criminals, he showed, are not merely driven by excessive greed or hubris, nor do they usually carefully calculate the costs and benefits before breaking the law and see it’s worth the risk. Instead, he showed that most of these executives make decisions, on the basis of their intuitions and gut feelings

The event commenced with opening remarks from EBRD Chief Compliance Officer, Lisa Rosen.   https://www.ebrd.com

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