Mending the Jigsaw: the Need for Increased Accountability in the UK Banking Sector

This article aims to analyse the accountability measures implemented by the United Kingdom government in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The global financial crisis highlighted the need to defeat the illusions of a ‘too big to fail’ bank. Greater accountability measures were urgently needed to prevent banking groups from taking excessive risks and putting consumers at risk of another economic crisis. Banking groups have long avoided meaningful sanctions intended to limit the risks being taken, and, without safeguards, the UK government has been left with limited opportunity to hold those groups accountable. In exploring the methods being used to increase accountability, this article will focus on the ring fencing measures being used to separate risky investment services from core retail services and the effect of the London Interbank Offered Rate scandal on the initiation of sanctions against individuals and banking groups as a whole. This article will have regard to reports and papers composed by regulatory bodies, government assembled commissions, and financial news articles to examine these national measures.

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