As usual, Alex puts his finger on the problem. Regulatory compliance is not high on the agenda for interest-rate rigging banks in England, who even after being caught rigging interest rates are still resisting any further regulation. Tapu Misa has the full story, and the right approach in today’s Herald. I liked her comment:
I’m not sure why everyone seems so surprised to find that the financial sector is full of hubristic, self-interested individuals who aren’t overly fussed with ethical behaviour. Isn’t this the logical extension of the dominant economic theory that holds that we’re just self-interested hedonists and the world would be a better place if we left the common good to the market?
That economic theory is now completely discredited. Time to replace TINA (There is no alternative) with TARA (There are real alternatives).
Meanwhile John Key is off to talk to the Big4 Australian banks to find out what’s going on. As Tapu Misa points out, those are the same banks that reached a settlement of $2.2bilion with Inland Revenue who had sued them for avoiding tax in New Zealand. That’s some change. It shows compliance wasn’t on the Aussie banks’ agenda either.
[Bunji: adjusted cartoon to fit on page]
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