I saw an ethical banker the other night he was sitting next to a socialist worker and they were both complaining about all the rocking horse excrement coming from London.
So the media coverage is now tailing off about Lawrence Tomlinsons revelations that RBS has been dunking quality British businesses in order to STEAL their assets.
You can be in no doubt that there will be powerful lobbying for a cover up and to let the banking fraternity sort themselves out.
There is already talk of his findings being unproven, excuse my language but that’s bollocks.
Lawrence lives near Ripon, I don’t know him personally but he is known as an intuitive and honest business man, I would bet a finger that he is absolutely correct in his allegations.
This can NOT be let go.
Miss-selling is bad, taking the publics wages and punting them on big market gambles is worse, lying that un-payable debt is “prime” is even worse but this is the line that can not be crossed.
Seriously, what kind of country are we if we permit bankrupt state institutions to steal assets from hard working business owners?
What will that do for the economy long term?
The law of competition is tough on business owners but good for the country because bad businesses go bust leaving space for the good ones. Banks cannot tinker with this principle, its vital for the UK that the good firms make it.
Mr Banker, having a powerful lobby may stave off your own bankruptcy and even let you botch up your own balance sheet by closing down viable firms. Lobbying will never fix your main problem that you have a crap banking business and it certainly won’t help the UK in the global economic race as you destroy our new businesses.
If we are serious about this country having world class banking and financial services then we will never get there while lobbying is so powerful that the government is the bank and the bank is the government.
Steve, I agree with you, it’s all bollocks.
You raise a number of interesting issues in your blog but not to put too fine a point on it the FSA/FCA are in no position to bring action. The FSA having happily overcharged IFAs who do not hold client money the FCA quite happily refused to consider refunding the overpayments to those IFAs affected.
To date even though the bankers have cost all taxpayers as well as everyone in the country obscene amounts of money to bail them out of the mess they got us into by their “investments”, on which many were paid bonuses, nobody has been prosecuted let alone put in jail.
Lastly when we last renewed our overdraft facility with our bankers, Bank of Scotland, having strengthened our balance sheet, in the expectation of the introduction of the FCA’s requirements for IFAs financial strength, BoS increased our interest charges by over 46% saying that they had previously mispriced the risk. RBS is not alone in stealing companies money BoS are just doing it on a more gradual basis.
Cracking blog Steve. I love the line:
“we will never get there while ….. the government is the bank & the bank is the government.”
It used to be called “Bullshit baffles brains.”
The banks are in bed with the government and always have been. They are protected dinosaurs who have managed to catch the eye as they chatter about GDP and their contribution.
However, they are earning foreign cash, but not creating national wealth. That only happens where there is a value added exercise. The cash they earn is as a service industry and as such, by definition does not add value. No surprise that they dont pay VAT, is it. Probably justly so as they provide no value.
The UK media is a circus – on this subject as on the subject of fascists in Ukraine (ignored). The state of no news media – the average UK paper has only waffle in it – little real news and they put out a steady stream of government propaganda.
So, lets not expect things to change, even if the government does ever do so, the bankers will still be sitting in No 10. Democracy – humbug!
It was refreshing to read your email and what you say, thank you.
I am a ‘retiring’ IFA, not through age or early retirement, nor that I’m sufficiently ‘minted’ but that I refuse to work anymore for an industry that rewards not only slack but immoral methods, scamming the population in favour of the greedy banking corporations.
I never pursued a RDR diploma as investments and pensions seemed the worst aspects of this industry but then a further unfulfilled year of mortgages &insurances made me realise that I cannot be part of this greedy banking industry any longer.
Thankfully I am a Member of The Society of Will Writers and whilst it is not so regular and I have to often overcome and transform clients fear of death, nevertheless I believe this work is authentic and far more wholesome.
I will likely need to find part time employed income meanwhile, which is not easy at 50+ and after many years of self employment but I have much to offer and trust that I will find or ‘be found’.
Thanks again for your sincere blog.
I know a Surveyor who has been sent out by a bank to look surreptitiously at properties mortgaged to the bank with a view to foreclosing on the ones with the best realisable value