Romney to attend London fundraising dinner hosted by Barclays boss Bob Diamond

[malaise]

4. Show me your friends and I'll tell you who you are

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jul/10/barclays-warned-fsa-agius-diamond-bonus
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Marcus Agius, the outgoing chairman of Barclays, has revealed that Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King played the decisive role in forcing former chief executive Bob Diamond to quit last week.

In a gripping testimony to MPs, Agius revealed that King summoned Barclays senior directors to a meeting and made it clear that Diamond did not have the support of Britain's financial regulators.

Under repeated questioning by MPs, Agius admitted that Barclays had been warned by the Financial Services Authority about the public perception of its use of complex tax and accounting rules in what the out-going chairman of the bank conceded was a "strained relationship" with the City regulator.

As Agius announced that Diamond had "voluntarily forgone" £20m of his potential payoff, he also provided detail of the behind-the-scenes drama that led to the chief executive's resignation a week ago – barely 24 hours after Agius had quit in an attempt to save Diamond in the wake of Libor scandal. Diamond will still get £2m – which John Mann MP said he should give to the homeless charity Shelter. Prime minister David Cameron's official spokesman said: "I think the decision to forgo the bonus is a sign that they understand public concerns and that they understand that there is a need for a change in the culture of banks."

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Time for these criminals to go to prison