“Dont shareholders have an ethical responsibility in all this”
No Glenb, they don’t. Shareholders, unless they hold an amount of shares that may have an impact on an AGM, are just along for the ride.
The group which should hold some form of responsibility is the Board of Directors.
And they should be held to hold the same responsibilities as a Trustee has to his/her beneficiaries.
As in, misuse money to benefit yourself over the persons to whom the duty is owed means some severe sanctions.
In the case of the company, the duty should be owed to the shareholders, for example not to authorise the CEO to walk off with some eye-watering bonuses for doing his/her job.
Nor as Directors to give themselves nice little thank-myselfs like free overseas hols for doing their job. Nor authorise over the market payments to act as a director via some form of Board committee to justify it.
That is the ethical part.
If anyone can provide a sample of it occurring in Australia since the Bond and Connell eras, I would love to hear of it.