City minister Mark Hoban was grilled last night on why no bankers had been arrested, prosecuted and jailed in the UK for their role in the financial crisis.
City minister Mark Hoban was grilled last night on why no bankers had been arrested, prosecuted and jailed in the UK for causing the financial crisis. He was interviewed by Channel Four News’s Jon Snow following the publication of the Vickers report (pdf).
Mr Hoban was repeatedly asked why, unlike in the States, not one single banker had been gaoled:
Jon Snow: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet? You’ve been in power for over a year, it’s now three years since 2008, why isn’t one of them in jail?”
Mark Hoban: “Well the FSA is looking at some of the issues around the management of these banks, and there’ll be a report published on RBS in the near future, but what we’ve sought to do is to ensure that we are looking ahead, trying to learn the lessons from the financial crisis…”
JS: “But I asked you about prosecutions minister, prosecutions. In America, bankers are being prosecuted, the Attorney General for New York has a great laundry list of people that he’s after. I haven’t seen a single name that you want arrested or tested or questioned, not one of them, no one has been held to account, not one.”
MH: “The FSA is working through that at the moment…”
JS: “Three years on, three years on minister, when’s this going to end?”
MH: “But, there, you know, these are, these are, these are complex, these are complex issues which do need to be resolved, but, you know, simply looking to the, to the past won’t help us avoid the crises of the future…”
JS: “I think from what you’ve said we’re not going to see a banker in jail…”
MH: “Well, it’s, the FSA is responsible for enforcement, they are the people who will look at this, and look at the behaviour of a number of individuals and will tackle that issue.”
As Snow writes on his blog today:
“In one month, hundreds of rioters and looters have been prosecuted and punished by the English courts, often for offences with a value of under fifty pounds. Yet the threat to the wellbeing of UKplc was far greater from the bankers than from any number of more arrestable rioters.
“There is a strong impression abroad that the UK doesn’t want to prosecute anyone for the banking crisis, a crisis that has affected every tax payer in the Kingdom. Soon enough the statute of limitations will kick in to ensure that no-one will ever be prosecuted for their role.
“Then we can all breathe easy – no banker will ever go to jail, and we can stop asking the nightly question, ‘why not?’”
Once again, it looks like punishment for the poor, immunity for the rich.
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25 Responses to “City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?””
London IWW
City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?” http://t.co/pKTM9Kg | #Corruption
Shamik Das
Frm this morning: RT @leftfootfwd: City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?” http://t.co/1qV0XpD ft. @JonSnowC4
Monika Schwartz
Frm this morning: RT @leftfootfwd: City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?” http://t.co/1qV0XpD ft. @JonSnowC4
Knut Cayce
RT @leftfootfwd: City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?” http://t.co/zSQX2D9
Robert Reading1
i agree..if the unions had caused a recession and financial meltdown then any goverment in office in the uk would have stepped in and brought in new powers and sent many to prison..a banker i know in london admitted to me he had lost millions of bonds and pension funds,,but said that the bank had encouraged him to gamble and he would be rewarded with a vast bonus,,his yearly earnings are k350..he is american and said it was like being offerd to drive someone to a airport for £3000 but risk ther lives to do it in a short time.. like so many people i am so angry ,,not just with the banks but the goverment.present and past…so much greed and corruption,,,now our manufacturing base is so depleted we are so reliant on finance in the city…its very risky…i do dispair for the future of our young people after the mps expense scandal,,,