City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?”

City minister Mark Hoban was grilled last night on why no bankers had been arrested, prosecuted and jailed in the UK for causing the financial crisis. He was interviewed by Channel Four News’s Jon Snow following the publication of the Vickers report (pdf).

Mr Hoban was repeatedly asked why, unlike in the States, not one single banker had been gaoled:

Jon Snow: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet? You’ve been in power for over a year, it’s now three years since 2008, why isn’t one of them in jail?”

Mark Hoban: “Well the FSA is looking at some of the issues around the management of these banks, and there’ll be a report published on RBS in the near future, but what we’ve sought to do is to ensure that we are looking ahead, trying to learn the lessons from the financial crisis…”

JS: “But I asked you about prosecutions minister, prosecutions. In America, bankers are being prosecuted, the Attorney General for New York has a great laundry list of people that he’s after. I haven’t seen a single name that you want arrested or tested or questioned, not one of them, no one has been held to account, not one.”

MH: “The FSA is working through that at the moment…”

JS: “Three years on, three years on minister, when’s this going to end?”

MH: “But, there, you know, these are, these are, these are complex, these are complex issues which do need to be resolved, but, you know, simply looking to the, to the past won’t help us avoid the crises of the future…”

JS: “I think from what you’ve said we’re not going to see a banker in jail…”

MH: “Well, it’s, the FSA is responsible for enforcement, they are the people who will look at this, and look at the behaviour of a number of individuals and will tackle that issue.”

Watch it:

As Snow writes on his blog today:

“In one month, hundreds of rioters and looters have been prosecuted and punished by the English courts, often for offences with a value of under fifty pounds. Yet the threat to the wellbeing of UKplc was far greater from the bankers than from any number of more arrestable rioters.

“There is a strong impression abroad that the UK doesn’t want to prosecute anyone for the banking crisis, a crisis that has affected every tax payer in the Kingdom. Soon enough the statute of limitations will kick in to ensure that no-one will ever be prosecuted for their role.

“Then we can all breathe easy – no banker will ever go to jail, and we can stop asking the nightly question, ‘why not?’”

Once again, it looks like punishment for the poor, immunity for the rich.

http://twitter.com/bendygirl/status/113565679931760640 BendyGirl

VIDEO: City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted http://t.co/ApOmO1g by @ShamikDas ft. @JonSnowC4
http://twitter.com/politicalplanet/status/113566230006345731 Political Planet

City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?”: City minister Mark Hoban was grilled las… http://t.co/aHRtLJX
http://twitter.com/bgb85/status/113566541760569344 BGB

VIDEO: City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?” http://t.co/ApOmO1g by @ShamikDas ft. @JonSnowC4
http://twitter.com/legalaware/status/113566590968152064 Legal Aware

VIDEO: City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?” http://t.co/ApOmO1g by @ShamikDas ft. @JonSnowC4
http://twitter.com/dodgerzulu/status/113566642818121728 Andrew Dodgshon

Politics of justice not envy…RT @leftfootfwd: City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?” http://t.co/WE91ScS
http://twitter.com/gmg1106/status/113567450016120832 Graham Galloway

VIDEO: City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?” http://t.co/ApOmO1g by @ShamikDas ft. @JonSnowC4
http://twitter.com/janebrown1956/status/113567809203732480 Jane Brown

VIDEO: City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?” http://t.co/ApOmO1g by @ShamikDas ft. @JonSnowC4
http://twitter.com/labour52rose/status/113571150478577665 Alex Braithwaite

VIDEO: City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?” http://t.co/ApOmO1g by @ShamikDas ft. @JonSnowC4
http://twitter.com/theodmoor/status/113571578452779008 The Moor

RT @leftfootfwd VIDEO: City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?” http://t.co/4UkdqX5 by @ShamikDas
http://twitter.com/therightarticle/status/113574651145371648 Michael

Minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?” l Left Foot Foward – http://j.mp/nVZ5bq – Worth watching & reading blog.
http://twitter.com/analiensaturn/status/113577218113933313 alien from saturn

Don't worry some of our scumbags are on the US list, I know it for a fact http://t.co/6uXnD79
http://twitter.com/crusader4animal/status/113585273702588416 Penny

VIDEO: City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?” http://t.co/ApOmO1g by @ShamikDas ft. @JonSnowC4
http://twitter.com/johnslinger/status/113587281754988544 John Slinger

RT @leftfootfwd: City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?” http://t.co/cGUBXpY
Shooter

By this logic, we should hunting Gordon and his Treasury minions like Ed Balls down. In fact, they have admitted actual responsibility so lets dust off the gallows. This kind of debate isn’t particularly helpful and the parallels with what is happening in Hungary are too close for comfort. The fact is that normal people who took out fat mortgages to make a quick buck are just as responsible. In hindsight, everything is obvious but people shouldn’t be prosecuted for failing to predict the future. I would also add that banks aren’t like other businesses. The business model is what borrowers make it and if they decide to be stupid there isn’t a lot they can do about it.
Selohesra

Not sure it is really a good idea where the minister decides who is going to be prosecuted – perhaps Snow show direct his knee-jerk banker bashing question to the police who have presumably not provided the CPS with evidence of anything they can prosecute any banker for. Better still he could try reporting the news rather than trying to set the agenda for a change.
cynicalHighlander

FSA

We are operationally independent of government and are funded entirely by the firms it regulates.

Lets allow the the inmates of our prisons elect the prison governors as that will make them better run!
http://twitter.com/blacktriangle1/status/113610160718626816 Black Triangle

“In one month, hundreds of rioters and looters have been prosecuted and punished by the English courts, often for… http://t.co/bMbOaWK
Tony

Why hasn’t any of the architects of the Iraq war been prosecuted?
http://twitter.com/glo_man/status/113613022261551104 Keith Saunders

“In one month, hundreds of rioters and looters have been prosecuted and punished by the English courts, often for… http://t.co/bMbOaWK
http://twitter.com/tjm_77/status/113614064952938496 Tim Martin

VIDEO: City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?” http://t.co/ApOmO1g by @ShamikDas ft. @JonSnowC4
http://twitter.com/londoniww/status/113704271110864897 London IWW

City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?” http://t.co/pKTM9Kg | #Corruption
http://twitter.com/shamikdas/status/113729321528594432 Shamik Das

Frm this morning: RT @leftfootfwd: City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?” http://t.co/1qV0XpD ft. @JonSnowC4
http://twitter.com/askthosewhono/status/113730348621369344 Monika Schwartz

Frm this morning: RT @leftfootfwd: City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?” http://t.co/1qV0XpD ft. @JonSnowC4
http://twitter.com/modditydodds/status/113914869467713536 Knut Cayce

RT @leftfootfwd: City minister asked: “Why hasn’t a single banker been prosecuted yet?” http://t.co/zSQX2D9
Robert Reading1

i agree..if the unions had caused a recession and financial meltdown then any goverment in office in the uk would have stepped in and brought in new powers and sent many to prison..a banker i know in london admitted to me he had lost millions of bonds and pension funds,,but said that the bank had encouraged him to gamble and he would be rewarded with a vast bonus,,his yearly earnings are k350..he is american and said it was like being offerd to drive someone to a airport for £3000 but risk ther lives to do it in a short time.. like so many people i am so angry ,,not just with the banks but the goverment.present and past…so much greed and corruption,,,now our manufacturing base is so depleted we are so reliant on finance in the city…its very risky…i do dispair for the future of our young people after the mps expense scandal,,,