Bloomberg warns companies not to give gifts to its employees

Joe Pompeo of Capital New York writes Monday that the CFO of Bloomberg LP has sent a note to companies that the media and data company does business with, warning them not to give gifts to Bloomberg employees, including its journalists.

Pompeo writes, “‘As the holiday season approaches, we would like to remind you that Bloomberg has a strict policy that prohibits giving or receiving gifts, including meals, tickets or trips.’

“So begins the letter Bloomberg C.F.O. Patti Roskill sent out last week to a group that includes freelancers for the magazine Bloomberg Businessweek.

“But Roskill reminded vendors that they are only being put on the same footing as all Bloomberg employees: ‘Our employees are instructed to return any gifts, irrespective of their value, to the sender.’

“These sorts of rules are enforced at all mainstream news outlets, but reminder letters like this are often prompted by a serious infraction (or an epidemic of smaller ones). One imagines it’d be easy to make a mistake at a company that issues its employees a 350-page encyclopedia of editorial and ethical standards.

“But a spokesman affirmed that it’s just the scary efficiency of Bloomberg L.P. at work.”

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