In a July 2002 speech in New York, President George W Bush implored business leaders to heed the lessons that emerged from the collapse of Enron, WorldCom and other companies laid to waste by the actions of their top executives.

“We need men and women of character who know the difference between ambition and destructive greed, between justified risks and irresponsibility, between enterprise and fraud,” Mr Bush said. “Those who sit on corporate boards have responsibilities.”