AIBU to be fed up that nothing has changed for the bankers

[LemonySnug]

I so agree with .

YANBU......The banks are to blame for the financial mess of the world. All down to greed. They don't care, they get bailed out every time. I hate them.

You can't just blame the bankers. Be nice if we could . Politics played a huge role , as did society . Our materialistic greed needs acknowledging .

yeah everyone taking 100% mortgages and massive amounts of credit and loans had a major contribution of course, along with the banks who provided it.

but I do agree that the trading culture is completely wrong - offering massive bonuses for those that make the most money, by any means, is always bound to lead to abuse and gambling addicts in my opinion.

Forago - that culture is fine if they are only risking the banks money, the previous government changed the regulatory regime which missed all the risks the banks were taking
The financial mess only happened in the UK and US, most other countries banks were fine because they were regulated properly. Gordon Brown caused this with his messing about with regulation. He did this to earn the tax money and hoped it would be ok.

Most other countries do not have the materialist spend-spend-spend culture of the UK and USA either, it isn't just banks that have been bailed out but many irresponsible borrowers have been effectively bailed out too by government policy averting repossessions and the like. Government policy to refuse to allow the correction of house prices has bailed many people who took out large mortgage debts at the expense of people who are stuck renting.

Forago you are very misled if you think that the trading culture leads to that.

I don't think that people in the UK are more materialistic than other Europeans TBH. UK house prices were massively inflated due to insufficient supply (no real interest in providing low cost housing plus an inefficient planning system), insufficient affordable housing to rent, so people were almost forced on the housing ladder, nicely facilitated by the banks.

In addition, people who could just make ends meet were then confronted with sharply raising prices (eg cost of transport, utilities, etc.). There have been plenty of stories of people borrowing money on their credit cards in order to pay their bills. These people were not living a life of luxury, they were shuffling money round in order to keep afloat.

The big winners were the bankers (not the banks as several needed bailing out) and they still are. Nothing seems to have changed. All the upside lays with the bankers, all the downside with the tax payer and customers.

Who exactly are "The Bankers"?

YANBU

House prices were massively inflated by low interest rates, which makes the monthly payment seem affordable, and 100% + mortgages being available.

YANBU.

Especially in light of the fact that it is the most vulnerable members of our society that have been made to suffer over the bad decisions made by the banks.

Good question, which bankers do you mean?

Things have changed. In banks there is much stricter regulation coming into force, demands from regulators and shareholders for greater recapitalisation of balance sheets, more accountability, more scrutiny on risk and compliance and actually less reward for more work (no violins necessary) if you ask many of the bankers you seem to be talking about. You just don't hear it because it doesn't make good news but believe me, Financial Institutions are spending a fortune on it, as well they should be.

As for reward leading to abuse, our society is based on the principle that people should be rewarded for success and in corporate terms, this means making money and consequently generating the growth which the economy depends on. I agree, this shouldn't be open to abuse but we shouldn't lose sight of what really matters which is actually risk v reward.

Everyone was bailed out in the financial crisis, but it was the system which was at fault. We all have lessons to learn from it IMHO but changes are happening.

I've worked on many trading floors. Inknow tradersvtreated for gambling addiction. Banks have become more regulated, for sure, and the sums aren't as crazy as they used to be - which is why the big players have all gone to hedge funds. I haven't got a problem with this if its not public money. Pissing around with libor and forex rates affects everyone. I've seen many of the emails. People were blatantly lining their own pockets. There was nothing to stop them.

I work on a trading floor, so did my husband. He lost his job 2 years ago and things have changed significantly for us so YABU. All I would so is that the banker bashing culture sells newspapers, and not everything is as you read.

All I would 'say' not 'so'.

Unfortunately, I don't get my information just from the papers. I have seen banks ruining perfectly good businesses and organisations.

In the case of businesses through suddenly changing the terms of loans. In the case of organisations through providing way too much debt, which resulted in big bail outs.

I see this behaviour as criminal TBH and I think it is time people who operate in these manners are being held accountable.