Guess what, they were ethical and honest. My grandfather arranged loans to Finland after WWI and was given a medal by them for doing so. My uncle found investors for oil well drilling during the 1970’s, $10,000 minimum (a good chunk of money back then) and he wouldn’t take your money if he didn’t think you could afford to lose it.
That’s the difference between then and today. My uncle, even as his politics were somewhat to the right of Atilla the Hun, showed genuine concern for potential investors. He didn’t want to see anyone get hurt. This is called “ethical behavior”, a quaint concept indeed for today’s mostly criminal class of investment bankers who instead package together toxic garbage, sell it to those who mistakenly trust them, laugh at them behind their backs, and then short the investments, profiting on both sides of the deal.
What is called investment banking today is mostly parasitic vultures enriching themselves while destroying economies. My grandfather and uncle weren’t like that. (And I would tell you if they were. After all, my first ancestor landed in the States shortly after the Pilgrims and was a privateer – a pirate for English crown.)