A multinational team of financial regulators, led by the US Department of Justice, is investigating allegations that some of the world’s leading banks manipulated currency rates at the time of the credit crunch crisis in 2008.
It is alleged that while the world was struggling to avoid a global meltdown of the financial system the banks were making gigantic bets on currency moves, in particular between the dollar and yen, and then conspired with government central bankers to set interest rates that would move the currencies in the ‘right’ direction.
The Swiss bank, UBS, has been given immunity from prosecution in return for grassing up other banks but all those under suspicion have, somewhat helpfully, been warned to expect dawn raids by financial regulators.
When even Geoff Boycott is using a tea interval at the Lord’s test match to call for Britain’s leading bankers to be jailed, we can say that the public attitude towards high finance has turned decisively.
Trade unionists and socialists have a receptive audience for the idea of nationalising the banks and organising the financial system in the interests of working people.
