ABSTRACT
Every year some of the most senior politicians and business leaders attend the World Economic Forum in Davos. It is a gathering of the great and the good, the movers and the shakers, to debate matters of common concern. The main theme of the World Economic Forum held in Davos in January 2003 was trust. According to the commentator Hamish McRae, many of the ‘more thoughtful people’ who run large companies have been shaken by the decline in the reputation of the business community and ‘of course the lapses in the ethical behaviour of both commercial and the investment banks that have led to this decline’. It was widely expected that the participants would determine ‘that they behave more honourably in the future’ (McCrae 2003).
