If 71-year-old Bernie Madoff gets 150 years in jail for a $65bn fraud, what deterrent is there against going for a $130bn scam - or $260bn? Or why not do a serious crime?
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Another crisis, another corporate governance code. What started as Cadbury and developed into the Combined Code is being rewritten again. But if it changes so often, why should we think this will be the definitive version?
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Now National Rail’s chief executive is waiving his annual bonus the group should also abandon its search for two dozen people to keep the board in order. This is corporate governance gone mad.
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Most businessmen will react to the revelations of MPs expenses with anger, cynicism or wry amusement. But how many could survive public exposure of their own expenses claims?
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I don’t know what the definition is of insider-dealing in Sunderland, but in the City it means trading shares with privileged information. It doesn’t mean writing newspaper stories that move share prices.
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Is the corporate sector going to hell in a handcart – or has the bond market misjudged the risk of default? Unless business goes bust en masse, bonds yielding 10 per cent look a good buy and a bad sell.
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Ending the ban on short-selling financial stocks is not only good in principle, it is also encouraging for investors. When other arms of government are tightening controls, the Financial Services Authority has signalled that there is light at the end of the credit crunch tunnel.
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Forget Madoff. The biggest ponzi scheme of recent years has been the world housing market.
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