Foreign Experience in the Legal Regulation of Corporate Ethics: Lessons for Ukraine (Using the Example of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation)

Abstract

The article explores current issues in the foreign experience of legal regulation of corporate ethics, using the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a case study. It outlines that the need to reform the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) is driven by the necessity to enhance corporate culture, employee ethics, and public trust in the agency.

It is emphasized that the regulatory framework governing corporate ethics within the FBI is classified and available exclusively to its personnel. The study finds that the FBI’s corporate ethics are grounded in values such as strict adherence to the U.S. Constitution, compassion, leadership, respect for the dignity of all citizens the Bureau is tasked to protect, justice, personal integrity, institutional integrity, personal accountability, and answerability to senior leadership.

It is established that the norms governing corporate ethics at the FBI are set out in the Federal Bureau of Investigation Act and its internal code of conduct. The formation of corporate culture is shown to begin as early as training at the FBI Academy.

The article describes the FBI’s corporate culture as a closed, coherent structure that shapes relationships among employees, their values, mission, and responsibilities in the performance of their professional duties. The FBI’s corporate ethics constitute a set of rules and norms based on a unified value system defined by the FBI Act, which laid the foundation for the Bureau’s high professional prestige.

The article concludes that a positive step toward adopting the U.S. experience would be the creation of an Ethics Code for the Security Service of Ukraine (Corporate Ethics Code of the SSU), which would establish the groundwork for the development of a modern, high-quality law enforcement agency tasked with ensuring national security.