Introduction In September 2008, the stock market crashed. The bursting of the US real estate bubble caused the value of securities linked to US real estate prices to collapse, damaging financial markets globally. The complex relationship between policies that encourage homeownership, facilitating access to loans, the overvaluation of toxic subprime mortgages, questionable business practices, and compensation structures that prioritize short-term profit over long-term sustainable value creation have triggered a financial crisis that has not yet been overcome. solved. Global financial markets were collapsing. The consequences of the 2008 financial crisis are far-reaching. It has not only harmed the financial services sector itself, but also governments. But it was individuals who were worse off. As financial organizations collapsed one after another, people lost their jobs, pensions, investments and savings. After all, we have all been affected by this as consumers of financial products. The public has lost confidence in the financial services industry. Many reasons have been suggested for the 2008 financial crisis; complex high-risk products, lack of transparency, undisclosed conflicts of interest, failure of regulators and credit rating agencies, and systematic failures of corporate governance and risk management within organisations. While the cause of the 2008 crisis is evidently a combination of the above, it could be argued that the underlying cause of the crisis was a complete collapse of ethical behavior in the financial services sector. This essay examines agency theory and the issue of executive compensation arising from it in the context of the financial services industry. Highlights the ethical issues surrounding...... middle of paper....... Corporate social responsibility is high on the agenda of companies. Stronger corporate governance is introduced. Governments around the world have tightened regulations in an attempt to ensure systems are used to control risk and restore confidence in the financial services sector. However, judging by the number of scandals that have occurred since the crisis, it does not appear to have worked because the underlying problems related to corporate culture and behavior remain unresolved. While the industry is working hard to change the pre-crisis culture, for the change to be permanent, a concentrated effort from all parties – regulators, companies and individuals – is needed to establish and strengthen a culture of integrity. This won't happen overnight. It will require years of tenacious and ongoing commitment from all parties involved to create lasting change in the financial markets.