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values. The general theory of normative egoism does not endeavour to portray human character directly, but asserts how people ought to act. It comes in two universal forms: rational egoism and ethical egoism. Rational egoism claims that the support of one’s own interests is always in accordance with motive. That being said, Ayn Rand who was the greatest advocate for rational egoism discards the “selfless selfishness” of absurdly acting individuals: “the actor must always be the beneficiary of his action and that man must act for his own rational self-interest.” To be ethically egocentric thus entails a obligation to reason rather than to emotionally driven urge and impulse. In the strong version of rational egoism defended by Rand, not only is it sensible to practise one’s own interests, it is irrational not to pursue them. In a weaker version, one may note that while it is rational to pursue one’s own interests, there may be occasions when not pursuing them is not necessarily irrational. Ethical egoism is the normative theory that the promotion of one’s own good is in accordance with decency. In the strong version, it is held that it is always moral to promote one’s own good, and it is never moral not to promote it. In the weak version, it is said that although it is always moral to promote one’s own good, it is not necessarily never moral to not. So, there may be conditions in which the avoidance of personal interest may be a moral action.

The justification for egoism lies in the underlying concept of man: as man has only limited insight into the consequences of his actions, the only suitable strategy to achieve a good life is to pursue his own desires or interests. According to Adam Smith the pursuit for satisfying the individual self-interest is acceptable as it produces a morally desirable outcome for the society through the ‘Invincible hand’ of the marketplace. So if a participant in the market system intentionally pursues immoral actions, then the invisible hand concept of the marketplace in which there is competition and proper supplies of information-will drive him out of the business. The concept of egoism based on desire has been criticised on the grounds that it renders different approaches to life as being equivalent. The other school of thought states that egoism based on the pursuit of interests is the ultimate rendering of the concept (Graham, 1990). So it can be implied that the concept of egoism is followed by the market participant in their motive of serving their self interest which they deem to be morally righteous, but which is immoral for the social welfare of the society.

The actions of the financial market participants can be also analysed utilising the various Situational influences on the decision making process. In the highly tensed moments when decision of an individual is of paramount importance to the organisation, the judgements that they would make, and the action that they would actually initiate cannot be explained in terms of the individual’s traits. After all, many people appear to have ‘multiple ethical selves’ (Trevino & Nelson, 2007), that is, they make different decision in different situations. In fact, most evidence we have points to situational influences being at least equal, and probably more important in shaping our ethical decision making (Crane & Matten, 2010). The decision making process varies according to the situation an actor is faced with, which i