Who’s really in charge?

In a remarkable expose of the extent to which the state bows before capital, investigative website ProPublica recently published the secret recordings of Carmen Segarra, ex-employee of the New York Fed. Segarra, who worked for the American government agency charged with keeping an eye on Wall Street banks, blew the whistle on a culture of complete deference to the institutions which shamelessly continue to defraud us all, even after the 2008 financial crisis.

The Guardian’s Gary Younge incisively told Segarra’s story this week. Segarra’s taped recordings of her boss and other colleagues revealed a government agency that continues to look the other way.

In one recording, her boss calls a move by Goldman Sachs “legal but shady” but is told by a superior to let the matter be.

Later, when they discuss how they should approach Goldman about failing to disclose an activity to the Fed, one examiner suggests telling the bank, “Do not mistake our inquisitiveness, and our desire to understand more about the marketplace in general, as a criticism of you as a firm necessarily.”

Although the servile attitude with which the Fed regulates banks sounds shocking, it’s only the tip of the iceberg. In a post-financial crisis world, in which we’ve supposedly all learned our lessons, big banks continue evading the law and government regulators shamelessly turn a blind eye.

Banking abuses at home

In the UK, examples of banks skirting regulations are as plentiful as on Wall Street. Just last week (September 26), the European Banking Authority has said it will have to crack down on “allowances”, which are additional payments big banks have paid their top earners to skirt the EU’s banker bonus cap.

Instead of playing by the rules, these banks do all they can to preserve their decadent culture of outrageously high pay. And instead of encouraging the EU regulator to do what it can to curb these criminal levels of pay, Chancellor George Osborne went to court to undo the regulations.

The Libor scandal, in which bankers rigged the average interest rate setting measure to cream millions, is another case in which big banks are getting away scot free. Although on Tuesday (October 7), the first UK banker involved in the scandal was convicted of fraud and faces up to 10 years in prison, a gagging order has kept the public from knowing his name or the bank he worked for.

The order was made despite a High Court judge calling it “an affront to the principle of open justice.”

The extent to which bankers consider themselves above the law was revealed anew recently (October 7) when two HSBC directors quit their posts in protest over new Bank of England rules that could make bank directors criminally liable if a bank fails.

Although the directors thought the new rules were unfair, a lawyer noted in the Guardian that it is highly unlikely bankers would be unduly prosecuted unless there is plenty of evidence of wrongdoing.

Unite national officer Rob MacGregor explained a new trend among bank regulators.

“What’s happening now is that regulators have deflected responsibility for addressing institutional, systemic problems and have instead opted to target individual employees,” he said.

For example, the financial conduct authority (FCA) will often use “mystery shoppers” to investigate whether financial advisers at banks are properly informing consumers about financial products they are hoping to sell.

While MacGregor acknowledges that methods like these can prevent fraud, they do nothing to address the institutional sense of entitlement endemic among top bankers that has made large-scale criminal plots like the Libor scandal possible.

“It’s like going after a foot solider instead of the general,” he said.

Bleak future

If big banks consider themselves above the law, in many cases, it’s because they are. And if the future is anything to go by, banking regulations will only further unravel.

Last week, Lord Hill, a Tory peer and personal friend of David Cameron, was up for selection as EU commissioner, charged with overseeing financial services and regulation.

Grilled at the European Parliament during his confirmation hearing, Lord Hill couldn’t answer many key questions. Several MEPs have expressed suspicion of Hill, who has connections to big business and a lobbying background.

Critics have said that his being appointed to be in charge of financial regulation would be like handing the keys to the hen house to a fox.

Even though the cosy, genuflecting relationship between big business and the political class further enables big banks’ crimes, those in power are in complete denial.

Last week, Chancellor George Osborne claimed in a speech at the institute of directors’ annual convention that business was “under attack” from charities and trade unions, saying that they must “put [their] heads above the parapet” to “defend the principles of the free market against those who want to undermine it”.

If defending the free market means giving it free reign from government regulators who are supposed to restrain its worst excesses, then the very principles of democracy are in peril.

Just when we thought big banks were finally being reined in post-crisis, this may only be the beginning.