Government must do more to hit bankers where it hurts

9:17am Thursday 12th July 2012 in Letters By Reader letter

WELL, the word BANK really has become a four-letter word hasn’t it? And I am getting rather tired of complaining about them!

But it’s vital we all keep up the pressure, because the minute we stop, the Government will back right off doing anything to fix them.

But those bankers in the boardroom are their own worst enemy… they are arrogant, and just don’t listen.

We have given them hundreds of billions of pounds to bail them out and get the economy moving, and what do they do? They sit on it, because it may be too risky to lend out.

So up in their ivory towers they think of more ways to rip us off, like payment protection, punitive schemes for small businesses, and manipulating interest rates.

They’re not interested in getting the economy moving, all they are interested in is maximising their bonus, and when they have got it, all they are interested in is manipulating their tax returns so they hang on to it! And we let them get away with it time and time again!

It’s nonsense to fine the banks too.

Firstly, we are taking back the money we gave them to get the economy going… we would be ‘cutting off our nose to spite our face’…crazy! Secondly, the money just comes out of bank funds and doesn’t hurt anybody.

In my opinion, the Board of Directors as a whole should be fined, and the fine paid by those Directors from their OWN pockets (they are paid enough). In this way, those guilty of overseeing malpractice are the ones that pay the price. Hit them where it hurts - in their pockets – and I guarantee a change in their behaviour! But who’s going to listen to me?

Jim Cunliffe, West Park.

Comments(21)

Sankey says...
11:17am Thu 12 Jul 12

The banks are commercial enterprises they are out to make money what else do you expect them to do? They also employ 1.4 million people in the UK lets not forget. I would agree with your letter had you subsituted the word politician for banks. They are the ones who for decades have led us into this mess who are corrupt (as we saw from the house flipping and other assorted scams) and are using the banks as a lightening rod to absorb public anger and for them to escape scott free from this mess.

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mikeperry109 says...
1:53pm Thu 12 Jul 12

The answer is simple, Jim. Part nationalise the banks with 51% state ownership - that makes our elected politicians directly accountable for excess bonuses and corrupt practices. We already own much of the system anyway - and had we let them go to the wall back in 2008 we could have had them for peanuts! We bailed out Northern Rock then sold the profitable part to Virgin, leaving us with the toxic debt. Incredible stupidity, but as Sankey says, what can you expect from our current crop of politicians
Sankey has it wrong in another way - the main function of banks is to support business, industry and subsequent growth, not to make money.

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Sankey says...
8:53am Fri 13 Jul 12

Mike is partly right the banks are not just there to make money. They form an essential role in our economy. Without the clearing banks our society would descend into anarchy within about 4 days. As Mike says they facilitate the money supply lending to businesses and individuals. They also facilitate the notes in your wallet and the pennies in your pocket. The Bank of England prints notes and the royal mint manufacturer’s coins but without the infrastructure of the clearing banks they cannot distribute it to the population. So their role is both commercial and civic. However innovation and efficiency is critical and therefore I don’t believe they would be better in public ownership they would go the way of all public bodies overmanned and0 inefficient. In fact generally the less we have in public ownership the better because it always goes the same way. It would take you a year to get a credit card or change your bank details if the banks were in the public sector. Actually don’t think there is a lot wrong with banks they are very well run organisations and highly successful and have developed many new products that are part of the reason our economy was successful a few years ago. In a modern globalised economy we need innovative banks not some equivalent of a local council or civil service department. I do accept though some things are not right and some reform is needed. The Vickers report should be implemented with the high street banking separated from investment banking and there should be more banks. Ed Milliband’s stance and I think he is right. I also think criminal prosecutions should follow but this will be a handful of people in the banks I repeat 1.4 million people work in UK banks. So let’s stop this nonsense and rhetoric about the banks it’s largely untrue and promulgated by politicians who are the real villains and the reason the UK and the whole of Europe is facing catastrophe.

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anthonywilson says...
6:17pm Fri 13 Jul 12

Most people are totally disgusted with the banks and whats being going on over the last few years since the financial crash followed by scandal after scandal.
If you want to do something positive move your accounts to a bank that has a strict ethical policy such as the Co-operative bank. The Co-op bank can only loan out what is held on deposit and does not borrow any money from other banks through inter bank lending.

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chasmcn says...
7:20pm Fri 13 Jul 12

anthonywilson wrote:
Most people are totally disgusted with the banks and whats being going on over the last few years since the financial crash followed by scandal after scandal.
If you want to do something positive move your accounts to a bank that has a strict ethical policy such as the Co-operative bank. The Co-op bank can only loan out what is held on deposit and does not borrow any money from other banks through inter bank lending.
I have done that move my accounts to the co-op plus at the moment that are offering good rates too on fix term investments you also get the added advantage of being a share holder in the bank and get a share of the profits at the end of the year .

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mikeperry109 says...
8:24pm Fri 13 Jul 12

At present we're with Santander - that is historical as it was at one time Girobank - state owned, set up by a Labour government and flogged off by the Tories. Seriously considering taking your advice, chas and anthony.

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Sankey says...
10:15am Sat 14 Jul 12

Well the co-op is light years away from its founding it’s a commercial bank like the rest of them. As for Santander they took over Alliance and Leicester of which a small operation was Giro bank in Bootle. Santander is a massive Spanish bank and if you read the consumer websites there are more complaints than the rest of the banks put together. The UK arm of Santander is registered under the UK protection scheme so you are all right there but the parent group and the Spanish banking system are about to go into meltdown. My advice is chop and change and get the best deal just like your gas and electric and insurance. He who does nothing and is loyal loses out in today’s world.

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mikeperry109 says...
12:19pm Sat 14 Jul 12

I still argue that the banks should work for us, and not the other way round. The GiroBank was a great success, but hampered by political interference and then sold off to Alliance and Leicester. The latest Osborne idea of lending banks money cheaply so that they can lend and make profit is crazy. Why not cut out the middle man and do it ourselves with a state bank - it's our money, when all is said and done!

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Sankey says...
1:21pm Sat 14 Jul 12

It is our money. For myself I prefer choice in financial matters. The prospect of having one single state bank dictating one offering to the public would be my vision of hell. Given an extra 1.4 million people would go on the state payroll and hence entitled to the huge public sector pension provision plus the inevitable over manning would probably send the nation over the edge fiscally. We would go back to the days when British telecom was state owned and took up to a year to have your phone installed. The existing situation is fine the bank of England in the public sector and clearing banks in the private sector. Implement the Vickers report and jail a few bankers and politicians job done. Next question?

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mikeperry109 says...
5:30pm Sat 14 Jul 12

Sankey wrote:
It is our money. For myself I prefer choice in financial matters. The prospect of having one single state bank dictating one offering to the public would be my vision of hell. Given an extra 1.4 million people would go on the state payroll and hence entitled to the huge public sector pension provision plus the inevitable over manning would probably send the nation over the edge fiscally. We would go back to the days when British telecom was state owned and took up to a year to have your phone installed. The existing situation is fine the bank of England in the public sector and clearing banks in the private sector. Implement the Vickers report and jail a few bankers and politicians job done. Next question?
There does not have to be a state monopoly - simply a state bank run on a commercial basis with profits returned to the taxpayers. The other banks would have to compete. The only way to break a cartel is to introduce state competition.

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Sankey says...
5:46pm Sat 14 Jul 12

Mike effectively thats what we have now with RBS. The state is the major shareholder.

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mikeperry109 says...
5:49pm Sat 14 Jul 12

Sankey wrote:
Mike effectively thats what we have now with RBS. The state is the major shareholder.
Then we should nationalise it fully and let it set the benchmark for all other banks. I may be a socialist, but I am not obsessed with nationalisation. However, this is a serious situation, and demands radical action.

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Sankey says...
9:21am Sun 15 Jul 12

Mike not really clear what the benchmark would be? I presume you don’t mean making lots of money but lending more? That being so the lending has to be quality otherwise it would run up bad debts which would be funded by the taxpayer. The taxpayer would be subsidising mad cap business schemes and reckless spending by individuals. I maintain there’s nothing much wrong with our banking system that the Vickers report and a few jail sentences won’t sort out. Despite what the press and opportunist politicians say our banking system is not broken. The corruption is not with the banks but the political class which is self serving and corrupt both in the UK and especially in Europe. Recent example is the Lib Dems attempt to stitch up the House of Lords so that it is permanently hung with the Lib Dems being the powerbrokers in perpetuity despite them being supported by less than 9% of the electorate. Having failed on AV this is their latest attempt to undemocratically hold power. And as for New Labour their record speaks for itself.

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retro 1 says...
9:44am Sun 15 Jul 12

bankers lot of em

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mikeperry109 says...
4:18pm Sun 15 Jul 12

Sankey wrote:
Mike not really clear what the benchmark would be? I presume you don’t mean making lots of money but lending more? That being so the lending has to be quality otherwise it would run up bad debts which would be funded by the taxpayer. The taxpayer would be subsidising mad cap business schemes and reckless spending by individuals. I maintain there’s nothing much wrong with our banking system that the Vickers report and a few jail sentences won’t sort out. Despite what the press and opportunist politicians say our banking system is not broken. The corruption is not with the banks but the political class which is self serving and corrupt both in the UK and especially in Europe. Recent example is the Lib Dems attempt to stitch up the House of Lords so that it is permanently hung with the Lib Dems being the powerbrokers in perpetuity despite them being supported by less than 9% of the electorate. Having failed on AV this is their latest attempt to undemocratically hold power. And as for New Labour their record speaks for itself.
Irresponsible lending is what put the banks in such a mess in 2008, and the taxpayer effectively funded these through the bailout. There will always be an element of risk when lending money - that is why banks need some collateral. The point is, how to we regulate effectively?
Labour were a disaster in this respect - and was it not they who awarded the security contract to G4S?

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Sankey says...
7:26pm Sun 15 Jul 12

In corporate banking Mike it used to be done by regional business managers who knew their patch and their local businesses. Nowadays it’s all done centrally by credit scoring and by computers. That would not change whether it was public or private sector. What caused this mess was not the lending but the insane money supply by that madman Brown. I don’t say this with hindsight I said so at the time any fool could see house prices going up in perpetuity and loaning people 6 times earnings on 120% mortgages was only going to end up one way. And so it did. Brown was insane but others around him Darling, Balls, Milliband and even our own hero Dave Watts could have spoken out at the time.

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anthonywilson says...
1:22pm Tue 17 Jul 12

Sankey wrote:
Well the co-op is light years away from its founding it’s a commercial bank like the rest of them. As for Santander they took over Alliance and Leicester of which a small operation was Giro bank in Bootle. Santander is a massive Spanish bank and if you read the consumer websites there are more complaints than the rest of the banks put together. The UK arm of Santander is registered under the UK protection scheme so you are all right there but the parent group and the Spanish banking system are about to go into meltdown. My advice is chop and change and get the best deal just like your gas and electric and insurance. He who does nothing and is loyal loses out in today’s world.
The Co-op Bank is a commercial bank Sankey but it simply isn't like the rest of them.
No other bank as far as I know has an ethical policy and they wont be tainted by the Libor scandal as they don't lend or borrow money from other banks.

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Sankey says...
9:26pm Tue 17 Jul 12

Anthony are you saying the co-op bank does not raise money on the markets? where does it get its investment funding from? The ethical policy is a marketing thing. Its a huge business and now merged with Britiania if you think you are ethical banking with the co-op good luck to you. My advice to you is to shop around all financial services and insurance businesses will screw you if you don't. If the co-op offers the best deal fine.

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anthonywilson says...
11:23am Wed 18 Jul 12

Sankey wrote:
Anthony are you saying the co-op bank does not raise money on the markets? where does it get its investment funding from? The ethical policy is a marketing thing. Its a huge business and now merged with Britiania if you think you are ethical banking with the co-op good luck to you. My advice to you is to shop around all financial services and insurance businesses will screw you if you don't. If the co-op offers the best deal fine.
Sankey, the ethical policy isn't just a marketing thing as the bank turns down billions in business because of it. How many banks do that?
It might not be perfect as a bank, what is these days. At least it isn't involved with the libor scandal and more recently another bank which I won't name that appear to have been supporting international drug cartels, organised crime and money laundering.

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Sankey says...
2:06pm Wed 18 Jul 12

Turns down billions in business

ha ha ha ha !

Theres one born every minute

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anthonywilson says...
9:03pm Wed 18 Jul 12

Sankey wrote:
Turns down billions in business

ha ha ha ha !

Theres one born every minute
Where complete cynics are concerned then yes.

http://www.redpepper
.org.uk/a-bank-worth
-backing/

http://menmedia.co.u
k/manchestereveningn
ews/news/business/s/
1241547_coop_turns_d
own_100m_of_unethica
l_business

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