So what are the biggest ethics breaches for 2005?

First there's the rogue's gallery (and some winners) in the Associated Press piece. It's a list that includes Harry Stonecipher, the Boeing chief who was forced to quit after he was sprung having an affair with another executive, ex-AIG boss Hank Greenberg, Refco chief Phillip Bennett who is now facing fraud charges and Robert McCormick, the CEO of telecom firm Sawis Inc who quit last month over a $241,000 bill he charged to his corporate card at a New York strip club. Must have been some act!

Not to be outdone, Thomas Kostigen from MarketWatch has his list which includes Wal-Mart for its work practices, Exxon for thumbing its nose at shareholders and ignoring their resolutions calling for it to admit carbon emissions lead to global warming, and Enron's Ken Lay for his pre-trial claim that he is really not all that corrupt. Kostigen also identifies some of the good guys.

True, December is always the season for media to run lists. But the trouble with roll-calls is that you're always going to leave someone out.

Numero uno for Kostigen, for instance, is George W Bush for allowing agencies to spy on the American people. Good call. But you can also include the telephone companies who are now accused of collusion in the eavesdropping. Significantly, the phone companies are now keeping their mouths shut.

The moral of the story: ethical breaches seldom occur in a vaccum. They usually require other parties to aid and abet.

Meanwhile, investigations firm Corporate Resolutions has announced an Ethics Hotline for whistleblowers.