Seven Pillars Institute

Dr. Kara Tan Bhala founded Seven Pillars Institute{{Cite web|last=Pinsker|first=Joe|date=2014-12-18|title=Would a Hippocratic Oath for Bankers Lead to Better Behavior?|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/12/would-a-hippocratic-oath-for-bankers-lead-to-better-behavior/383867/|access-date=2020-06-03|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US}} in Lawrence, Kansas, in 2010. The institute is the first think tank in the world to focus on financial ethics.

Dr. Tan Bhala serves as president of the institute. She has an MBA from Oxford University and PhD in philosophy from the University of Kansas. She was previously a lecturer in finance at the University of Kansas, a visiting research fellow (2015 to 2017) and currently an honorary research fellow at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS) at the School of Law of Queen Mary University of London.{{Cite web|url=https://www.qmul.ac.uk/ccls/research/regulation-ethics/visitors/|title=Dr Kara Tan Bhala - Visiting Research Fellow January 2015 - January 2017|website=Centre for Commercial Law Studies {{!}} Queen Mary University of London|access-date=30 December 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.qmul.ac.uk/law/staff/kara-tan-bhala.html|title=CCSL - Kara Tan Bhala|website=School of Law {{!}} Queen Mary University of London|access-date=30 December 2018}}

Dr. Tan Bhala has also worked for twenty-three years in international finance, mostly on Wall Street, and nine as a managing director at Merrill Lynch.{{Cite news|url=http://www.news.ku.edu/2009/may/15/bhala.shtml|title=Graduation stories: Financial background, philosophy doctorate could be perfect pairing|date=15 May 2009|work=KU News|access-date=30 December 2018|archive-url=http://archive.news.ku.edu/2009/may/15/bhala.shtml|archive-date=15 May 2009}} Dr. Tan Bhala has published extensively and has lived and worked in London, Oxford, Singapore, Hong Kong, New York City, and Washington, D.C.

Seven Pillars states its financial ethics services, primarily education-oriented, are geared towards the sectors of:

• government - working with governmental agencies and departments to incorporate ethical considerations into policy-making and provide ethics seminar and consulting{{Cite web|url=https://sevenpillarsinstitute.org/financial-ethics-in-government/|title=Financial Ethics in Government|website=Seven Pillars Institute|access-date=30 December 2018}}
• business - provide employees with ethical perspectives to decision-making and enlighten employers to ethical issues with the institute's industry case studies{{Cite web|url=https://sevenpillarsinstitute.org/financial-ethics-in-business/|title=Financial Ethics in Business|website=Seven Pillars Institute|access-date=30 December 2018}}
• academia - contribute to the proliferation of research, articles, and learning tools pertaining to ethics and finance{{Cite web|url=https://sevenpillarsinstitute.org/financial-ethics-research/|title=Financial Ethics Research & Basics|website=Seven Pillars Institute|access-date=30 December 2018}}

The institute has embarked on a number of collaborative efforts with other organizations and institutions.

One such collaboration is with the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary University of London where they work on ethics, law, and regulation in finance.{{Cite news|url=https://www.qmul.ac.uk/law/news/2014/items/centre-for-commercial-law-studies-to-collaborate-with-seven-pillars-institute-for-global-finance.html|title=Centre for Commercial Law Studies to collaborate with Seven Pillars Institute for Global Finance|date=23 April 2014|work=School of Law, Queen Mary University of London|access-date=30 December 2018}} The collaboration aim is to foster a dialogue on important ethical policy issues affecting the financial services industry. This dialogue is to be achieved primarily through Dr. Costanza Russo's designing of a postgraduate module in 'Ethics in Business and in Finance', and a comprehensive framework that includes collaboration on research, publications and other educational endeavors. Dr. Tan Bhala also works closely with the Transparency Task Force, an advocacy group based in London, England, whose purpose is to increase transparency in financial services.{{Cite web|url=https://www.transparencytaskforce.org/ttf-ambassadors/|title=TTF Ambassadors|website=Transparency Task Force|access-date=3 January 2019}}

The institute has also conducted interviews with prominent economists, professors and authors. Among them are Joris Luyendijk, L. Randall Wray, David Vines and Richard H. Thaler.{{Cite web|url=https://sevenpillarsinstitute.org/interview-with-joris-luyendijk-author-of-swimming-with-sharks-my-journey-into-the-world-of-the-bankers/|title=Interview with Joris Luyendijk, Author of Swimming with Sharks|last=Tan Bhala|first=Kara|date=8 October 2015|website=Seven Pillars Institute|access-date=5 January 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://sevenpillarsinstitute.org/failure-orthodox-economics-interview-l-randall-wray/|title=Interview with L. Randall Wray: Modern Monetary Theory, Inequality|last=Strawn|first=Travis|date=17 December 2013|website=Seven Pillars Institute|access-date=5 January 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://sevenpillarsinstitute.org/david-vines-and-nicholas-morris-on-capital-failure/|title=Authors David Vines and Nicholas Morris on Capital Failure|date=5 March 2015|website=Seven Pillars Institute|access-date=5 January 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://sevenpillarsinstitute.org/interview-with-richard-h-thaler-on-misbehaving-the-making-of-behavioral-economics/|title=Interview with Richard H. Thaler on Misbehaving|date=12 March 2016|website=Seven Pillars Institute|access-date=5 January 2019}}

In addition to the direct work of the institute, its president and founder, Dr. Tan Bhala, has delivered numerous lectures and speeches around the world on topics related to the synthesis of ethics and finance, promoting the institute's mission and quest. Among some are:

• [http://media.philosophy.ox.ac.uk/uehiro/TT13_STX_KTB.mp3 Ethics in Finance: A New Financial Theory for a Post-Financialized World] at Oxford University{{cite web|url=http://www.ethox.org.uk/ethox-blog/ethics-in-finance-a-new-financial-theory-for-a-post-financialized-world|title=Ethics in Finance: A New Financial Theory for a Post-Financialized World|last=Hicks|first=Kate|date=17 July 2013|website=The Ethox Centre|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130916162948/http://www.ethox.org.uk/ethox-blog/ethics-in-finance-a-new-financial-theory-for-a-post-financialized-world#selection-183.13-183.29|archive-date=16 September 2013|url-status=dead|access-date=30 December 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://business.ku.edu/oxford-university-invites-seven-pillars-institute-president-speak-global-finance-ethics|title=Oxford University Invites Seven Pillars Institute president to speak on global finance, ethics|date=30 January 2013|website=KU {{!}} School of Business|access-date=30 December 2018}}
• Global Financial Ethics in the Age of Trump at the University of Auckland{{Cite web|url=http://www.uabsknowledge.ac.nz/en/research-and-comment/research-and-analysis/financial-ethics-in-the-age-of-trump.html|title=Financial ethics in the age of Trump|date=13 June 2017|website=The University of Auckland Business School|access-date=30 December 2018}}
• Ethics and Transparency at the Transparency Symposium at Mercer Consulting{{Cite web|url=https://www.transparencytaskforce.org/previous-events/boston-28th-september-2017/|title=Boston 28th September 2017|website=Transparency Task Force|access-date=30 December 2018}}
• Finance and Ethics Panel at the Global Business Ethics Symposium at Bentley University{{Cite web|url=https://www.bentley.edu/gbes-2017-agenda|title=GBES 2017 Agenda|website=Bentley University|access-date=30 December 2018}}

The primary publication of the institute is its biannual journal, Moral Cents: The Journal of Ethics in Finance,{{Cite web|url=https://sevenpillarsinstitute.org/journals/|title=Journals Archive|website=Seven Pillars Institute|access-date=30 December 2018}} which is the first journal of its kind to focus on financial ethics and attempts to follow the institute's mission.{{Cite web|url=https://business.ku.edu/finance-professor-publishes-ethics-journal-first-its-kind|title=Finance professor publishes ethics journal, first of its kind|date=14 February 2012|website=School of Business {{!}} The University of Kansas|access-date=30 December 2018}}

The institute also publishes a variety of ancillary resources to aid in its mission, including:

• an online dictionary/glossary of ethical and financial terms{{Cite web|url=https://sevenpillarsinstitute.org/glossary|title=Glossary|website=Seven Pillars Institute|access-date=30 December 2018}}
• an online library of Financial Ethics Case Studies (FECS) - case studies in financial ethics from around the world, including some regarding Universal Basic Income{{Cite web|url=https://sevenpillarsinstitute.org/case-studies/|title=Case Studies|website=Seven Pillars Institute|access-date=30 December 2018}}{{Cite news|url=https://basicincome.org/news/2017/01/us-financial-ethics-think-tank-publishes-ubi/|title=US: Financial Ethics Think Tank writes about Universal Basic Income|last=MacFarland|first=Kate|date=24 January 2017|work=Basic Income News|access-date=30 December 2018}}
• a collection of introductory articles on ethics under the rubric of "Ethics 101"{{Cite web|url=https://sevenpillarsinstitute.org/ethics-101/|title=Ethics 101|website=Seven Pillars Institute|access-date=30 December 2018}}

Real Clear Markets has featured a number of articles published by the institute and its associates in their research reports:

• Financing, Ethics and the 2016 Brazil Olympics{{Cite web|url=https://www.realclearmarkets.com/research_reports/2012/07/|title=February 13, 2012 Archives {{!}} Research Reports|website=RealClearMarkets|access-date=30 December 2018}}
• The Case of Goldman Sachs and 1MDB{{Cite web|url=https://www.realclearmarkets.com/research_reports/2016/04/|title=January 25, 2016 Archives {{!}} Research Reports|website=RealClearMarkets|access-date=30 December 2018}}
• Are Insider Trading and the GM Bailout Ethical?{{Cite web|url=https://www.realclearmarkets.com/research_reports/2012/10/|title=March 5, 2012 Archives {{!}} Research Reports|website=RealClearMarkets|access-date=30 December 2018}}

The institute is also currently in the middle of developing a financial ethics training video series titled, [https://sevenpillarsinstitute.org/seven-pillars-institutes-financial-ethics-training-video-series-ethics-finance-good/ Ethics in Finance is Good!]. The series is intended to have twelve episodes, each about two to three minutes long, and each dedicated to a specific topic in financial ethics. The videos are largely in animated form and are an attempt to provide a more light-hearted, entertaining and punchy type of ethics training video as opposed to the supposed corporate run-of-the-mill videos.{{Cite web|url=https://today.ku.edu/2013/11/05/ku-lecturer-launches-financial-ethics-training-series|title=Lecturer launches financial ethics training series|date=11 July 2013|website=KU Today|access-date=30 December 2018}} As of January 2021, there are seven episodes.{{Cite web|url=https://sevenpillarsinstitute.org/videos/|title=Videos|website=Seven Pillars Institute|access-date=25 January 2021}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8weUxRjGu0&feature=emb_title |title=Ethics of ESG Investing 15 October 2020 |work=YouTube}}

• {{Official website|https://sevenpillarsinstitute.org/}}

Category:Ethics organizations

Category:Financial services in the United States

Category:Institutes based in the United States

Category:Non-profit organizations based in Kansas City, Missouri

Category:Political and economic think tanks in the United States

Category:Think tanks based in the United States

Category:501(c)(3) organizations