This extract from a recent editorial in the Financial Times highlights the continued appalling state of the UK banking sector and the need for wholesale change in leadership. British bankers really do need a moral compass!
‘The Barclays affair may lack the spice of some recent
banking scandals, involving as it does the rather dry “crime” of misreporting
interest rates. But few have shone such an unsparing light on the rotten heart
of the financial system……..What is shocking is the casual way in which this con was
perpetrated, and how few checks were in place to stop it. The messages swapped
between traders – with their promises to reward fiddled figures with bottles of
champagne – breathe an easy sense of entitlement. They also speak volumes about
the rotten culture at Barclays. Bob Diamond, the bank’s chief executive, gave a
lecture last year in which he stressed the importance of culture in
establishing an ethos of trust and integrity. “Culture is difficult to define,”
he explained, “but for me the evidence of culture is how people behave when no
one is watching.” Well, now we know.’
For the full article, see:
