While criticism of dog-eat-dog capitalism is widespread, its core principles remain firmly rooted in society, says Jeffrey Voegeli, an editor at finews.ch.

This article is published on finews.first, a forum for authors specialized in economic and financial topics.

A group of more than 180 American CEOs, meeting under the umbrella of lobby group «Business Roundtable» to consider the future of the economy, decided to stop putting the interest of shareholders above all other considerations. The bosses instead pledged to take other interest groups into consideration and to display more regard to their employees and take an interest in social and political issues.

«Progress!» proclaimed editorial writers at the «New York Times» and Swiss business-journal «Handelszeitung» (in German). If criticism was voiced at all, for instance in Zurich's «Tages-Anzeiger» (in German), it wasn't aimed at the idea of putting an end to dog-eat-dog capitalism. But rather at the lack of trustworthiness of the companies the business leaders represented.

«UBS is putting its money where its mouth is» 

Swiss giant UBS meanwhile is putting its money where its mouth is: in 2018, the asset management division registered a significant increase in assets invested in line with sustainability criteria. Also, the bank earlier this month pledged to pay more respect to the environment, to good governance and to keep an eye on social responsibility. In its quest to enact on this pledge, UBS awarded the role as head of its sustainability committee to its new investor relations boss Huw van Steenis.

UBS also backs the «Sustainable Development Goals» drawn up by the United Nations. The bank has issued a bracelet for each of the UN's goals. This Swiss Army knife of philanthropy now adorns the wrist of each and every ambitious UBS staffer.

Is UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti now receiving laurels for reputedly having objected to mass sackings in a bid to boost profitability at the bank? Are observers of the industry rejoicing over the fact that hundreds or thousands of overpaid UBS bankers can keep their cleaners, buy expensive cars, clothes and food or help maintain the Swiss real estate bubble?

Negative. After all, the shares of UBS have crashed below the 10-franc mark this summer, for the first time since 2012. Heads must roll, observers demanded, rubbing their hands with glee – while media sharks sharpened their pens.

«All the others first have to deliver»

The outcry over the collapse of the UBS stock goes to show how deep-rooted the superior role of the share price as an indicator is. U.S. companies whose S&P 500 index recently reached a new all-time high can easily afford to rave about a post-profit-world – potentially preparing their good excuse should a crash occur. 

All other companies and executives will first have to deliver. If you honestly believe that the climate debate, discussions about Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) or the widening wealth gap are affecting the shareholder-value dogma, you are simply kidding yourself.

Jeffrey Voegeli is an editor at Swiss online publication finews.ch. Before joining his current employer, he worked as a banking reporter for «Bloomberg», as an editor at «Schweizer Bank» as well as an online editor for «Handelszeitung».

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