Wall Street executives believes that their employees cannot succeed without breaking the law:

If the ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes were to go out with his lantern in search of an honest man today, a survey of Wall Street executives on workplace conduct suggests he might have to look elsewhere.

A quarter of Wall Street executives see wrongdoing as a key to success, according to a survey by whistleblower law firm Labaton Sucharow released on Tuesday.

In a survey of 500 senior executives in the United States and the UK, 26 percent of respondents said they had observed or had firsthand knowledge of wrongdoing in the workplace, while 24 percent said they believed financial services professionals may need to engage in unethical or illegal conduct to be successful.

Sixteen percent of respondents said they would commit insider trading if they could get away with it, according to Labaton Sucharow. And 30 percent said their compensation plans created pressure to compromise ethical standards or violate the law.

Truth be told, I’m surprised the number is so low.

The cynic in me says that most of the roughly ¾ who disagreed were lying because that’s what they do.

The realist in me says that most of the roughly ¾ who disagreed able to deduce the purpose of the survey, and determine that their, and their companies’ needs were, and then gave an answer that served those interests.

The optimist in me says that most of the roughly ¾ who disagreed have access to some really good drugs.