So HSBC and UBS have been fined massive amounts of money for being a bit naughty. Why are the bosses in court? It would appear that all you have to do to get away with money laundering and interest rate fixing is to be the head of a major banking instution.
What I'd like to ask the bank bosses is 'if you knew your institution was committing criminal acts why did you not act to stop it from doing so? If you didn't know, why didn't you know?'
To be honest, however they answer their goose is cooked. If they knew and failed to act they're guilty of collusion and should do some serious jail time, longer than say, Nick Leeson, who brought down Barings in the Nineties. If they didn't know, then they should be sacked for incompetence and negligence. To not know where your revenue is coming from is unacceptable and gives lie to their insistence they get paid so much because they're the best for the job.
Whilst it's pleasing to note that three traders have been arrested on suspicion of fixing LIBOR rates the question remains: why aren't those higher up the chain being arrested? Surely those who make decisions about how to trade should face sanctions? I refuse to believe that these three individuals made the decision to allegedly break the law purely by themselves.
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