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But anyone watching Fred the Shred, Andy Hornby and Co give evidence to the Treasury Select Committee would have been struck by how little they were actually humbled.
True, they all started with heartfelt pre-prepared, stage-managed apologies. But as soon as the formalities were out of the way it was back to business as usual and there were very few admissions of fault at all. They apologised for what has happened – but not for their part in it.
But this was the fault of the MPs. In nearly three hours of questioning failed to land a blow. Their questions were too often ill-focused, hectoring and unsophisticated.
As a result not only did the bankers leave unhumbled but far less light was shed on what went on – and what went wrong - than would have been the case if the calibre of the questioners had been higher.
Compared to the MPs these bankers are masters. But that’s not saying much.
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Comments
Someone somewhere discovered a way to make good money on a certain kind of not very well regulated derivative. More and more attention went into these derivatives until the amount of debt tied up in them was enormous, enough to threaten the economies of countries and the global economy.
Each bank was doing it because the others were and there was nothing illegal in it. The regulator didn't think there was a serious problem. A year ago shareholders would have berated the banks for not taking advantage of this system and depriving them of the huge profits.
The whole lot came apart as in hindsight is was going to do with terrible consequences.
Where does the blame lie? This assumes that anyone at the time thought this would happen. There were noises from some people (like Warren Buffett) but really no one thought this could happen in the western banking system. So looking for blame is a waste of time. It presupposes wisdom at the time that did not really exist.
To fix the general problem, all kinds of financial instruments should be regulated so we don't get this situation of huge debt off the books again.
How to fix the current financial crisis? No one knows.