Transparency- Necessary but not Sufficient...

I came across a sharp Op-Ed piece by Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO of the Indian tech giant Infosys titled "Financial Transparency a Must- Only by embracing the principles of transparency can confidence be returned to the financial system." He outlines, in a succinct way, the progression of U.S. capitalistic enterprise system, and the greed that fueled the major catastrophes over the past hundred years. His key point is that "One common theme throughout the evolution of corporate governance is increased transparency. But there is only so much regulators can do, and trying to regulate for every possibility surely will stifle growth. Corporate leaders must seize this opportunity to prioritize openness in their organizations. Promoting transparency not only covers greater disclosure to regulators or the investing public; it also means that risk should be in plain sight to the institution's own management. If exposure to "hidden" risk must exist there should be good, quantitative estimates of that risk and an acknowledgement of what is unknowable. "

Mr. Gopalakrishnan is correct in stating that transparency is essential for affirming trust and confidence without which society cannot function. However, transparency by itself is not enough. Enron was an 'opaque' problem. But everyone knew what AIG, Merrill Lynch, Citi, and others were up to. Not many protested because most people 'thought they benefited' from the financial engineering, and self-serving greed blinded one to even 'transparent' shenanigans. The issue here is not one of transparency of the object, it is the observer/participator being blind. Being a citizen means having a sense of ethical values, societal values, and a sense of responsibility to the world at large. It should not be acceptable to "take and take" without concern for the world. This applies to the leaders of firms, the suppliers, the customers, shareholders, and everyone else- in short, it is a societal issue. Mr. Gopalakrishnan and Infosys would have been more trustworthy and transparent had they actually down business from these shady firms and stated the reasons for doing so.