Are the myriad devious ways that the banksters have devised to make money finally catching up with them? Revelations in Europe and the US about the cunning, corrupt and sometimes criminal ways that big banks and financial companies used to make money are leading to a fine steam of moral indignation and outrage.
Politicians and financial regulators have joined in the chorus of condemnations. It is great theatre, but the authorities are still shuffling the blame between themselves.
The real proof of progress will be when shareholders curb bank managements, reduce their ridiculous salaries and generally clean house; when politicians cut too-big-to-fail banks down to size; and when regulators bring criminal charges against the biggest banksters.
Revelations in the past week have shown that a culture of greed and corruption has infected the financial business in the West. Barclays chairman Marcus Agius resigned this week, partly to save the neck of the bank's chief executive Bob Diamond after Barclays was given a record GBP290 million fine (HK$3.53 billion) over a complex bid-rigging process setting Libor rates. Then Diamond stepped down as chief executive yesterday. Agius will now stay on until replacements are found for both posts.
Libor - which stands for the London interbank offered rate - is the interest rate leading banks in London charge when lending to other banks. The rate, set daily along with its equivalent Euribor, is a benchmark for all sorts of interest rates on products from home mortgages, business loans and credit cards to complex derivatives, not only in Britain but all over the world. More than US$800 trillion of investment products have their interest rates linked to Libor.
The complex fine levied on Barclays by British and US authorities is only the start. The authorities in Britain, the US, Japan, the European Union, Canada and Singapore are pursuing inquiries about market manipulation and collusion over a period of at least five years and involving 20 other big banks besides Barclays. Citigroup, HSBC, and UBS are reportedly among the roll call.