Criminal Complicity

Finance, it is claimed by its practitioners, is the equivalent of 4 dimensional Chess and can only be played by the gifted few. It is far too complex for run-of-the-mill human beings to get their minds around. We are the spectators, if not fans, of the thrill of money even if someone else has most, if not all, of it. And, as with all spectators, we are overcharged - in this case not for seats, hotdogs and chips but for homes, mortgages and credit cards. And who knows what else?

I’ve met bankers. More than a few of them, or I’d choose to. They were the ones drinking splits of Champagne when we were drinking pints – you didn’t particularly want them in your round. I’ve met brokers and traders, economists and regulators. I’ve engaged them all in conversation and I have to say that I didn’t find any of them spectacularly smart – especially given their level of hubris. Their choice of idiom made them sound more like real estate agents or used-car salesmen than responsible managers of untold quantities of other people’s money. The term that came to mind to encompass most of them was “lightweight”. I’d long before concluded, from the rich folk I’ve met, that you obviously didn’t need to be a member of Mensa to make a lot of money so I put it down to luck.

More the fool me it turns out. That 4 dimensional financial Chess game was a chimera if not criminal complicity. It may not have started out that way but it certainly seems to have ended up as one. Except, as is now exposed, it isn’t 4 dimensional it is 5. This additional dimension is inhabited by politicians, civil servants and the press - another zone where the term “lightweight” must be applied.

We are expected to accept that the same people can be permitted, without external interference, to investigate a possible criminal case of their own making. How? Why? They can’t be relied upon to prosecute themselves. The Prosecution is already briefed to lead for the Defence. Even though most, if not all of them, were aware of, and thus complicit in, interest rate rigging since at least 2007 they are now rushing to the front of the queue of the innocent claiming false outrage in an equal quantity to total ignorance. Do you expect the pickpocket who stole your wallet to return it to you and face charges of theft? Then why expect these guys to give you your money back.

Maybe the term “criminal heavyweight” is more appropriate.

So what else are they capable of being complicit in - fixing Oil prices, raising Food costs, ramping-up Power charges? How about crime? Where will the trail lead – “follow the money” straight offshore. To the land of NOD – No Oversight Desired. This land can be found instantly by a banker at the mention of the word “Tax”.  Bankers in NOD appear to have assisted in the transfer of $billions worth of laundered money into the USA for the likes of, in one instance among tens of thousands, Russian used–car dealers. The Banks excuse; “our controls could and should have been stronger and more effective”. This sounds a bit less than sufficient given that the bank ignored $60tn worth of wire transfers and account activity and had a backlog of 17,000 account alerts regarding suspicious funds. All of which was known to the appropriate regulators but about which nothing was done.

It’s been a bad week for banking. does anyone care?