A report from the UK’s Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards has suggested bankers guilty of misconduct should be jailed.
The advice comes from ‘Changing Banking for Good’, a report into industry standards commissioned in July 2012 in the wake of the LIBOR scandal.
Go deeper with GlobalData
The report outlines aims to reform and improve standards across the UK banking industry.
The report suggests alternatives for selling off the Royal Bank of Scotland, including breaking it up, and demanded action to make the banking market more competitive.
The main areas covered by the recommendations are: making senior bankers personally responsible, reforming bank governance, creating better functioning and more diverse markets, reinforcing the powers of regulators and making sure they do their job.
Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, Andrew Tyrie MP, said: "Recent scandals, not least the fixing of the LIBOR rate that prompted Parliament to establish this Commission, have exposed shocking and widespread malpractice.
"Taxpayers and customers have lost out. The economy has suffered. The reputation of the financial sector has been gravely damaged. Trust in banking has fallen to a new low.
"It is not just bankers that need to change. The actions of regulators and Governments have contributed to the decline in standards.
"Governments need to get on with the job of implementing these reforms. Regulators and supervisors need rigorously to enforce them. We need better regulation: this may mean less, not more. And we need a better functioning and more competitive banking industry.
"High standards will strengthen Britain as a global financial centre. International co-ordination, while desirable, should not be allowed to delay reform. We must get on and do what is right for the UK."
The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards includes MPs and peers. Andrew Tyrie also heads the House of Commons’ Treasury Committee.
Related articles:
UK Independent Commission on Banking: proposals in September
