Andalucia Steve

The FT has just published an interest story. Apparently they have seen a draft european regulation that seeks to remove the Libor from London and put it under the control of a new regulator based in Paris. Apparently this is the beginning of a bigger project to oversee the pricing of all manner of commoditities and even possibly property.

In my view this is the beginning of the end for Britain's old boys network. For over four hundred years, London has been a financial centre that has led the world. Through much of that time there have been occasional scandals such as the south sea bubble. Charles Dickens covered scandals that we would recognize today in  Nicholas Nickleby and Little Dorrit. However there has always been a sense of 'honour among theives' in the city that seemed to prevent things going too far. In the last forty years or so that gentlemanly spirit seems to have been replaced by pure greed.

The city will recoil at what is clearly an insult, and though the proposal may never get voted in it represents a slap in the face for UK chancellor George Osbourne who has been battling to restore the Libor's tarnished reputation.

The question is will Britain try to stay in Europe in an attempt to maintain the status quo or leave Europe in an attempt to develop an independant trading profile like Switzerland and try to maintain in an attempt to retain its old boys network. My guess is either way it's damned. Mrs Thatcher bet the farm on the UK financial sector and now that is viewed by the world as rotten to the core with greed and corruption there is nothing else for the UK economy to cling on to.