Apologies, I was being slightly sarcastic, they were indeed only alleged criminals . The bankers were proven bankers, which isn't usually a crime (though at times perhaps should be), and also hadn't been found guilty in a court of law.
Edit: Apologies to bankers everywhere and their supporters, sarcasm turned off for the rest of the day.
Look some bankers have made some mistakes. I'm sure you were lovely to the one that offered you a mortgage. What about the one that sold that mortgage as part of a pool to another so they could offer your neighbour a mortgage? We need bankers...
Yeah, I was being sarcastic and generalising for effect.
That said, I was pretty harsh to the one that sold me a mortgage, her incompetence at completing the paperwork and delays nearly cost me the chance to buy my house. In general most of my interactions with bank staff have been poor or at least just adequate. I've never had a particularly "good" experience with one. I keep using them, because as you say, we need them. Well, we need bankers. Just perhaps not the ones we've got.
Well we need the financial instruments at least. If there were a way to get all that stuff without all the banker aftertaste, I'd be interested.
I'd be totally cool with a system that just went entirely by the numbers and I logged on the Internet to ask for a mortgage based on my credit score. Naturally we might need a more objective (and open) credit score system for that among a host of other things, but hey I can dream.
When everything in live resolves around money then you will always blame the dealer. Just how things go. It is when goverments repocess the banks is when you truely worry.
Also people blame banks in general as they don't feel they have learned there leasons, yet at the same time complain they can't borrow more money. We do need bankers, they also need us.
I understand what your implying about the time factor in this. Week after we got somebody extradited, who we all wanted extradited, so yeah, funny that. But common sence does seem to be prevailing, albeit in a sloooow way.
Remember bankers are people too, they also have the power to be as stupid as any other person. Just a bit more impacting upon mine and yours pockets compared to somebody logging into a insecure system over 10 years ago and hurting nobody else accept there pride.
Edit: Apologies to bankers everywhere and their supporters, sarcasm turned off for the rest of the day.