There are encouraging signs the latter assessment may be more accurate, that the prevailing corporate ethic of competitively driven self-interest is changing. During the past few years, for example, all kinds of companies have created ethics committees, hired ethics officers and adopted ethics codes.

One former ethics officer said one ethics program failed to catch on at a company whose married president was dating his secretary. "It made the whole message kind of hollow," the officer said.

Wruble estimated that roughly 11,000 persons would have to file disclosures with ethics offices designated by each government agency.

Under the law, the disclosures are to be made public within 15 days of filing. Ethics "officers" are supposed to review each disclosure for compliance with the law.