Government Betrays Public Over Banking, Just Like That!

I just saw a report on BBC News 24 that claimed that the government is pushing ahead with new legislation that will allow the Bank of England and FSA to move quicker if banks get themselves into trouble to bail them out...Hoorah! The new legislation will also help consumers to access their money quicker if things go belly-up...Hoorah!

I cannot find much on the web about this yet but there are two things that really worried me about this proposed legislation. The first is that it allows for an assumption that it doesn't seem to be possible or desirable for the government to regulate and monitor the banks closely enough to prevent them from getting into trouble again, thus eliminating the risk of institutional or systemic failure altogether.

Secondly, because the legislation will allow the regulators to react to trouble in secrecy, without the gaze and scrutiny of the public, we are not going to know what's happening in the financial services industry at all until presumably well after the event. This would remove any remaining shred of transparency in the banking system and would ultimately remove any control we have over our own money. One could also draw the inference that the government is of the opinion that it is in fact a panicky public that caused the banking crisis rather than poorly regulated bankers who were allowed to play recklessly with investors money.

So...in a cynical attempt to be seen to be doing something constructive to re-regulate the banks, the government has shown its disregard and trust in the British public by inadvertently blaming them for the downfall of the banks and barring them from full and timely information. They are also it appears going beyond their power by removing the choice and control the public has over its money and where they put it by allowing the regulators to act in secrecy. Call me crazy...but that really makes me angry! When will this madness end?