Here's an interesting contribution sent in by one of our readers.

'The dangers of being flippant when sending e-mails to colleagues is something which has only recently really become apparent. For years, we got used to sending 'saucy' jokes and sexist comments to workmates (male and female) via e-mail, with impunity. We would make bitchy comments about colleagues, clients and even the investing-public. We would exaggerate situations and repeat apocryphal stories and urban legends as if they were the truth. It was a fun way to communicate, and it all seemed so private and confidential. Little did we know that the power of the internet would soon result in several of our more salacious private comments being publicly examined and passed-on, and that regulators and investigators would pore over every word we committed to e-mail, examining every nuance in an attempt to flush-out foul-play and wrongdoing.

I am not someone who has deliberately set out to deceive anyone. I believe in the fairly obvious maxim that a client is for life and not just for this year's bonus. This is not good ethics, it's just good business. Clients don't tend to return to do business with someone who has shafted them. Indeed, in the current climate, they simply reach for the telephone and call a lawyer. But I am a worried man. Like many who work in the financial markets industry, I have made recommendations to clients that, because of the almost unique market conditions we find ourselves in, proved to be their undoing. Although it's no excuse, it is at least a comfort to know that there are plenty of others out there like me - folks who were genuinely doing their best to bring clients sound investment opportunities which turned out bad. And not just clients - some of my friends and family have taken a bath because of some of my professional recommendations.

Now, let me be clear. I have never misled a client by suggesting that they invest in something high-risk which I have presented to them as otherwise. I have never asked anyone to invest in any fund which I knew to be in trouble. However, I am still concerned, and lay awake most nights in fear that an examination of light-hearted or throwaway e-mails I may have sent could be misinterpreted by investigators and used to incriminate me. And I don't even have any particular e-mails in mind. I'm just frightened that, in search of yet more so-called 'white-collar' criminals to beef-up their conviction statistics, over-zealous prosecutors will target me (and people like me). And we won't have to be convicted to have our careers ruined and our lives shattered. Hauling us out of the office in handcuffs is not great for the CV, and years of expensive litigation is hardly good for your health and general relationships with friends and loved ones.

God, how I wish I'd never engaged in e-mail 'bull' sessions! I won't ever make that mistake again'.

Please use the 'E-Mail' button immediately under the article title to send this item to a friend.

Press here to comment on this story >>

Today in Life: Your Words Here >>

TODAY

• Report - These 3 Top Firms Could Have Gone Belly Up This Year
• No Layoffs Before Christmas - But Only Because They Can't!
• Look Who's Said To Be Mulling Over A Bid For Lehman Now

THIS WEEK

• No Layoffs Before Christmas - But Only Because They Can't!
• Nein, Nein, Nein - Emergency At Troubled Firm
• Report - These 3 Top Firms Could Have Gone Belly Up This Year