Sir Mervyn King has appealed for a: “real change in culture” within the banks. Image courtesy of: sxc.hu/neil hoskins
The
Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King has appealed for a “real change in culture” within the banks following the latest scandal to hit the sector over the rigging of key interest rates, which could mean small businesses have been charged too much for
loans.
King condemned the banks for "excessive levels of compensation, shoddy treatment of customers and a deceitful manipulation of one of the most important rates".
His comments at the Bank's twice-yearly Financial Stability report follows news that
Barclays has been fined a record £290 million by the
Financial Services Authority (FSA) and US regulators. The Bank has been fined for distorting financial data used to set interest rates on loans and other transactions.
Barclay’s chief executive, Bob Diamond, has agreed to relinquish his multi-million pound bonus over the scandal but has so far refused to resign despite pressure for him to do so.
Yesterday (June 28) the Chancellor, George Obsorne, said Barclays was “not alone” in efforts to manipulate a key interest rate benchmark, with other banks now under scrutiny.
He went onto say that the Government would consider the possibility of applying criminal sanctions to bankers in instances where "there is proven criminal negligence".
The FSA had earlier revealed that Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBS have agreed to compensate business customers who were
mis-sold complex financial products.