The crowds are baying for blood.

 

As the Bank of England mulls over the mechanisms to claw back bonus payments from bankers and the prospects of criminal charges for alleged financial wrong doing there is a growing sense that those perceived responsible for financial shenanigans should be held to account.

As the various banking disasters unfolded we heard how “mega profits” were being generated and that nobody thought that this seemed too good to be true.

When an individual or group of individuals are labelled “star traders” the culture of these financial institutions is such that it is virtually impossible for anyone to check or challenge them.

There are few prizes for killing the golden goose.

Even more ludicrous is the lack of independent controls which left many of the traders to self-police their own portfolio.

Whether by design or delusion what trader facing enormous losses is willingly going to face up to the reality of the situation?

The preferred course of action is to continue betting more heavily in a forlorn hope to recoup the losses. It is an all too familiar tale.

The regulatory authorities may pursue some of these irresponsible traders in an effort to appease those who think that the bankers “got away with it”.

In due course a few of them may end up going to prison but the vast majority will have nothing to fear.

In reality the really guilty parties are those who were operating at the very highest levels in the banking communities.

Whilst not directly responsible for the specific transactions they oversaw the deeply flawed system. Whether driven by greed for increased profits or fear of not keeping pace with their competitors they presided over the ultimate train crash whilst being rewarded handsomely.