巴克莱丑闻暴露银行业系统性腐败

    2008年重击华尔街和国际金融市场的大地震依然余震未断。不信？不妨问问鲍勃•戴蒙德，巴克莱（Barclays）的首席执行官……或者应该说，巴克莱前首席执行官。

    戴蒙德这位风云一时的美国银行家一夜之间被拉下了这家英国银行的首席执行官宝座。巴克莱操纵伦敦银行同业拆借利率（Libor）的丑闻所引发的巨大公众压力和投资者的愤怒情绪最终迫使戴蒙德宣布辞职。听到这一消息的其他国际大行首席执行官们不消说也人人自危。理应如此。

    我曾经花费大量篇幅写过，金融大鳄与政治盟友、以及金融自我监管部门之间沆瀣一气，摧毁了公众信赖。主流金融媒体并未充分反映这一现实。因此，彭博社（Bloomberg）承认银行业已经开始腐烂（There's Something Rotten in Banking）这个长久以来很多人都已经知道的事实时，我有点意外，但并不感到鼓舞，虽然这是一个转折点。

    我们不支持痛打银行，也不要求监管部门捆死大银行。但如果一个行业拿假的利率数据来欺骗市场，骗取其他银行和客户的钱财，让人还怎么为它辩护呢。

    悲哀的是Libor案暴露出了当今银行业文化中已经腐烂的一些东西。我们希望调查能曝光害群之马，将明知故犯、操纵市场者送入监狱，并驱逐参与或纵容此类行为的高管和董事。

    彭博打了华尔街和这个城市狠狠一记耳光。活该。要求将害群之马送入监狱，与我日前的想法相吻合。

    为什么要这样做？在巴克莱和解文件中，监管部门披露了证据确凿的电子邮件，表明银行交易员（希望能捍卫利润和奖金）和银行司库部高管（希望让市场相信银行没有陷入财务困境）之间肮脏交易的猖獗。这两个部门本不应互通，但显然已经暗通款曲。

    随着这一事件进一步发展，公众愤怒情绪继续升级，我敢肯定处于这场丑闻中心的银行高管们早已向美联储（Federal Reserve）、美国财政部（U.S. Treasury）的高官寻求庇护。正是美国公众的愤怒和随之而来要求全面透明的呼声才让整个丑闻事件彻底曝光。

    2008年的金融海啸波及所有银行和全球经济，巴克莱当然不是孤岛。还有多少金融机构正满头冒汗，担心将来审查内部沟通文件可能审出什么问题来？不管银行高管们怎么说，巴克莱曝光的电子邮件无疑是爆炸性的，所反映出的文化可能不只是巴克莱一家，而是整个银行业。

    The earthquake that rocked Wall Street and the global financial markets in 2008 continues to reverberate today. Just ask Bob Diamond, CEO of Barclays (BCS)... or I should say, the formerCEO of Barclays.

    Diamond, the once high-flying American banker, was dethroned overnight as the chief executive of the UK-based bank as public pressure and outrage grows over the Libor price-fixing scandal. Do not think for a second that the CEOs of other large global banks are not sufficiently concerned of their own standing this morning. As well they should be.

    I have written at length of the destruction of public trust due to the incestuous nature of the relationship between financial titans, their political partners, and compliant financial self-regulators. Major financial media have shied away from fully addressing this reality. In what I would define as a tipping point, I am surprised yet heartened to to read Bloomberg acknowledge what many have known for far too long, There's Something Rotten in Banking:

    We don't countenance bank bashing. Nor have we ever called on regulators to bust up big banks. But it's difficult to defend an industry that defrauds the market with fake interest rate figures, thereby stealing from other banks and customers.

    Sadly, the Libor case reveals something rotten in today's banking culture. We hope the investigations expose the bad actors, lead to jail terms for those who knowingly manipulated the market, and force out the senior managers and board directors who participated in, or overlooked, such conduct.

    Bloomberg hits Wall Street and The City hard. Deservedly so. The call for jail time echoes my sentiments expressed yesterday.

    Why so exercised? In the Barclays settlement documents, regulators released smoking-gun e-mails that reveal the extent of the dirty dealing between bank traders (looking to protect profits and bonuses) and senior officials in bank treasury units (hoping to convince markets that their banks weren't in financial difficulty). The two aren't supposed to collude, but it's obvious that the Chinese walls between them come with ladders.

    As this story continues to unfold and the public outrage mounts, I would bet executives at the banks in the crosshairs of this scandal might have already called senior officials within the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury looking for cover. Public outrage and accompanying demands for total transparency here in the States are required to expose the truth of this entire scandal.

    Barclays was certainly not an island in the tsunami that overwhelmed all banks and the global economy in 2008. How many other institutions are currently sweating profusely wondering what may be revealed in a review of internal communications? Despite what banking executives might say, the e-mail expose emanating from Barclays is explosive and indicative of culture not only at that organization but the industry as a whole.