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A day of reckoning for the banking industry

Monday, December 15 2008

David Cameron (Photo credit: Andrew Parsons)

David Cameron has promised to hold to account those in the banking industry who helped bring about the current economic crisis.

He stressed that while the greatest responsibility for the crisis lies with the Government, the irresponsible behaviour of individuals working in the financial services industry compounded Labour's policy mistakes.

And he spelled out the "rightful consequences" of this irresponsible behaviour:

  • Investigations into financial wrongdoing, including mortgage fraud and insider trading, must be "vigorously pursued to their appropriate conclusions"
  • We need to create a culture of responsibility by establishing clear rules of behaviour and reforming the "distorted" bonus structure
  • The FSA, the principal policing agent, must be given the teeth to do its job properly
  • Those who are found to have broken the law must be punished appropriately

David warned that our economy cannot prosper if neither the public nor investors have confidence in its integrity and honesty.

And he stressed that was also a question of fairness to answer:

"When I see working people paying through their taxes to bail out a banking industry which has imploded under the weight of its own irresponsibility, I believe we owe it to them to investigate thoroughly what exactly happened in this financial crisis, and to do all we can to stop it happening again."

Read David's speech in full.

Rt Hon David Cameron

David was elected Leader of the Conservatives in December 2005 and appointed Prime Minister in May 2010.

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