The governor of the Bank of Ireland, Mr Laurence Crowley, has said that not-for-profit charitable organisations could be better at disclosure and accountability.
"In the new era, occasioned at least in part by some unacceptable corporate behaviour, great emphasis is rightly put on the need for better and better disclosure and accountability by business for its actions.
"There is a feeling that the not-for-profit charitable organisations could in some instances lift their game in this regard," he said. The issue, at least in Ireland, was not so much diversion of funds as whether value was being achieved, he continued.
He was opening a conference "Humanising the Global Economy: Towards an Economy of Communion" in Dublin yesterday.
He said the creation of wealth was of paramount importance to society as a whole.
"Look at the condition of those parts of the world where they are unable to create wealth. Where would our great schools and universities and hospitals be without the creation of wealth? And the foundation of wealth is of course education."
He believed that "profits must be generated in a fair, ethical and responsible manner".
It was a fundamental principle that business had many stakeholders. "These include the shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers and society. I also believe that respecting and balancing the interests of each of our stakeholders is an essential pre-requisite to the creation of wealth."
He contended "that a human person and the making of profit are not by definition in conflict".
To encompass this at the Bank of Ireland they had adopted a programme of Corporate Social Responsibility. Such programmes were fundamental to the future survival of business and, at the Bank, required values accepted by everyone, he said.
These could be encapsulated in four words: passion, as in strong belief and determination; integrity; empathy with the other's point of view; and transformation/power to change for the better.
Wealth distribution was "a primary responsibility of government" but needed to be supplemented by private individuals, he said.