Criminal Bankers Warned 'Repent Or Go To Jail'

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Criminal Bankers Warned 'Repent Or Go To Jail'

Posted By: Jordon [Send E-Mail]
Date: Monday, 8-Oct-2012 08:33:55

In Response To: Drake Highlights: It Appears The ‘October Surprise’ Is Going To Be On The Cabal (Jordon)

. Britain's top financial policeman promises criminal prosecutions in every 'dark corner of the City' Britain's new chief financial policeman has issued a stark message to the City of London: "We have barely got started." In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Martin Wheatley, the head of the new Financial Conduct Authority, warned that people who believe watchdogs are already too tough have "a big wake-up call coming". Accusing bankers of avoiding responsibility for misconduct by hiding behind committee management, he raised the prospect of US-style prosecutions of senior executives: "In the future we want individuals held to account." The FCA, which will replace the Financial Services Authority, will have the power to launch raids on City offices and bring criminal prosecutions. Mr Wheatley, pictured, who last week recommended that bankers who attempt to manipulate Libor face criminal prosecution, pledged to investigate and expose potential abuses in other sectors of the financial-services industry. That could include the gold and silver markets, oil, foreign exchange and even agricultural commodities. "We will shine a light into a number of dark corners and we will have to take action depending on what we find," Mr Wheatley said. The regulator also accused banks of mistreating their customers to an extent that would be unimaginable in other consumer businesses. "The truth is that if our supermarkets in this country, if John Lewis, operated in a way that banks do, they wouldn't have any customers," he said. "If companies were operating in a way that was thinking about the long-term interests of their customers then you wouldn't need a heavy-handed financial regulation." Mr Wheatley published his report into Libor interest rates on Friday which called for sweeping changes to the way they are calculated in the wake of attempts by traders at Barclays and other banks to fix them. He said the roots of this and a string of other financial scandals came from "a deep, dark period" between 2005 and 2008. Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bad-bankers-warned-repent-or-go-to-jail-8191493.html