Banking and financial services constitute the backbone of the modern global economy. In their traditional role, they are entrusted with the savings of people and, after due diligence, are required to lend funds to businesses that generate employment and provide goods and services to the community.
However, as banking institutions moved away from this basic role and started making money from ever more opaque financial instruments, a moral rot set in among those that were entrusted with the effective functioning of the global economy on which we all are dependent. Banks now routinely put their own interests ahead of the responsibility they have towards the communities they serve.
After the global financial crisis, sparked by their reckless behaviour, it was hoped that some sense of responsibility and the threat of effective regulation will restore ethical behaviour among bankers. But it turned out to be a false hope.
It has now emerged that Barclays bank is one of many global institutions that manipulated the interbank lending rate for financial gain. The rate sets the basis for corporate and home loans and credit cards among others. Those found guilty of manipulation must be punished, along with the institutions that allowed such misconduct. It is only through rigorous enforcement of legal and moral standards and severe financial punitive measures that there can be any hope of restoring integrity among bankers.
