The law cannot curb greedy bankers, but morals might

By Janet Daley

In fact, when the detailed consequences become clearer – of just how the Libor rate-fixing fraud affected many small businesses and even private mortgage holders – the disgust may become rather less abstract.
But for now at least, in this lull before the full enormity of it all becomes manifest, it is unanimous: yes, it’s the culture, stupid. And everyone concurs that something must be done about it.
But putting it in those terms is, by definition, placing it outside the realm of government power. Certainly, we could make new laws against particular actions.
Governments often make laws to prohibit new kinds of offences: when ingenious forms of anti-social activity are invented, it is perfectly possible to devise legitimate ways of banning them.
Most modern financial crime has had to be countered by appropriately designed legislation. But you cannot criminalise attitudes and assumptions.
If we are really talking about a culture – an all-encompassing context of accepted codes of behaviour and professional habits – then this is not something that can be dealt with by blanket legislation.

Prudentia Politica