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With respect to the current economic crisis in the United States, conflicts of interest come into play when the personal financial gains or objectives of public officials are at odds with the proper performance of their jobs.

In the legal arena, there are specific professional responsibility and conduct codes which are designed to eliminate the potentially damaging conflict that could evolve, for example, during a foreclosure proceeding where the same attorney is representing, in part or whole, the interests of (a) the lender or current holder of the mortgage being foreclosed, (b) the current holder of the mortgage note, (c) the current servicer of the mortgage, (d) the auction company, (e) a company that may be trying to buy the given mortgage or property through a pre-foreclosure short-sale or post-foreclosure purchase, and (f) his or her own interests to make a handsome profit on the deal - all at the same time!

But these professional codes that are heralded as "protecting us all" against the obvious corruption and widespread "inside dealing" are rarely recognized, challenged, and/or enforced. In fact, over the past several months, thousands of foreclosures have taken place under the exact (or similar) circumstances as described above.

The bottom line is that one of the major reasons for the current U.S. financial crisis is that members of Congress have, literally, both institutionalized and legislated some extraordinary "conflicts of interest" which now are hurting us all badly.

- Ed Smith, Publisher
The EHS Letter Manual