A 'terrible three weeks' for the banks

Lord Turner, the top City regulator, hasn't minced his words at a speech this morning in London after a "terrible three weeks" for banking in his words.

Bonuses, the rate rigging scandal, and the exploitation of consumers through scandals such as PPI he said have made the public angry and destroyed trust in the banks. Tell the public something they didn't know!

He also strongly attacked the "inadequate" and "flawed" way the City was regulated in the run up to the crash.

Yet two aspects of his thinking were particularly striking this morning.

First that what he described as the "story" the public were told about the benefit to us all of a growing City was "not true".

Some parts of the financial services industry were not contributing in his view to the good of the economy.

And he was extremely clear that however tight financial rules are, however good regulation is, the job of rebuilding the reputation of the banks is down to the top brass at the banks themselves.

Nothing less than a total change of culture at the top is required he believes. He told me he believes the banks do "get it" but they have to act.