Forum for Corporate Conscience. (Economy).

Hugh McColl hasn't exactly been coasting since retiring as CEO of Bank of America. He has lent his considerable weight to a conference called, The Forum for Corporate Conscience. It was held in mid-March in Charlotte, N.C. About 150 CEOs were expected, including Warren Buffett as the leadoff speaker.

Originally, the conference was intended to help CEOs address community, work force and environmental issues. But the spate of corporate implosions meant that CEOs would also be facing up to the questions of governance. "What has been happening in corporate America was that we have remained too silent too often when we thought someone was doing something inappropriate," McColl says.

He blames the numbers game for most corporate calamities. "We allowed ourselves to predict earnings with certitude and then try to get those numbers," he says. "But it's just not possible for a CEO, a CFO or any damn body to predict how much money they are going to make 90 days from now."

McColl said he hoped the Forum would develop a white paper that CEOs could take home with them to help them manage their way through complex times. "Corporate executives want to do the right thing," says McColl. "They don't want to do the wrong thing."