With the early removal of Occupy, the established church is safe from anyone in Occupy’s tent becoming the next Martin Luther
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This morning, we learn that Standard Chartered bank have signed a confession note that they laundered $250 billion.
Given that Standard Chartered’s CEO told shareholders it was only $14 million, that’s an accounting change that would embarrass Bernie Madoff, and there’s not been a single News International-style police dawn raid to arrest any board director.
Instead, the shareholders have paid off the board’s accusers to the tune of $350 million.
There’s now no-one left in UK banking that isn’t covered in scandal. HSBC has already admitted that they laundered gobs of drug money.
And I hope I’m not alone in asking, in the case of Barclays lowering its LIBOR levels two days before its £7 billion capital raising: can someone with inside information manipulate a price in the direction the price will move once the information is announced and it not be investigated?
But again, in both of these cases, the shareholder covered the sins of the board members, £290 million from Barclays’ shareholders and HSBC’s shareholders are expected to pay almost $1 billion.
While it may concern that banks are more willing to pay fines than cover the coalition’s bank levy, we have to take our hats off to the prescient churchwardens of St Paul’s. Anticipating the lack of judicial action, they removed Occupy before all this guiltless activity by the banks.
The trend was already there: in January, the FSA’s judgment of RBS collapse that not a single non-executive director of said institution deserved a reprimand. The churchwardens were correct to anticipate this would be the prevailing trend.
Hannah Arendt once wrote that “people change their morals like table manners” and the behaviour of shareholders writing blank cheques for the CEOs is clearly the latest example. Moreover, churchwardens of an established church have learned the lessons of history.
• European parliament could penalise those involved in Libor rate fixing scandals 25 Jul 2012
• Inside the world of the bankers… This is why we need a full inquiry 4 Jul 2012
• Occupy have provoked the intelligent debate so lacking in mainstream politics 29 Feb 2012
Isn’t the present judicial stance towards bank directors a secular revival of Catholic indulgences for the St Paul’s City board member flock? In this modern secular version, however, the shareholders pay: it’s too medieval for sinful board members to be out of pocket.
And with the early removal of Occupy, the established church is safe from anyone in Occupy’s tent becoming the next Martin Luther.
26 Responses to “Lack of bank arrests vindicates St Paul’s decision to remove Occupy”
LordBlagger
Lack of arrests of MPs.
52% paid back cash.
52% claimed their expenses where ‘wholly and necessary for their job’ as an MP.
52% made a fraudulent instrument
MPs however were protected by the other fraudsters.
Meanwhile government accounts don’t include the really big debts because they are planning not to pay out the state pension. Ask the treasury, and that is the plan.
Meanwhile they carry on taking the money.
Fraud on a massive scale that is going to hit the poorest in the UK.
However, because its your mates committing the crimes, you won’t do anything about it.
You’re a hypocrite.
LordBlagger
Point 2.
At 10:1 gearing, that is 2,250 billion less to lend to the economy. When Standard Chartered loans fall due, they will insist on being repaid in full, and they won’t be able to roll those loans over.
That’s what you get when regulators extort money form banks, and they aren’t protecting shareholders or customers in the process. They are also damaging the economy.
dick
Are you or are you not ’employing’ unpaid interns at the moment? If so, how does that square with LFF’s previous policy that it was unnaceptable?
Cormac Hollingsworth
4 MPs have been jailed. No UK bank board member. I’m with you. Don’t tke capital from the banks that’s needed to lend, arrest the board members who have admitted they broke the law.
Selohesra
The banks certainly did things wrong but I dont think a bunch of unwashed wasters soiling some of Britain’s iconic buildings is the solution. Just calling for arrests because a crime has been alledged misses the point of going through due process , identifying which of the 1000’s of employees were involved etc – you cant just pick random 1% and charge them and its naive to think you just arrest the directors. Im a director (but not of a bank) & I dont know every detail of everything going on in the company