Bankers ‘should follow fair play example of Olympians’

Sir Mervyn King said the sportsmanship and work ethic displayed by the stars of the London Games needed to be embraced by those plying their trade in the City.

His comments come in the wake of the Libor scandal that has seen Barclays slapped with a £290m fine for manipulating the key benchmark borrowing rate. At least 15 institutions, including Royal Bank of Scotland, are also being investigated.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Sir Mervyn said: “For many years, our financial sector sustained the illusion that it was possible to become a millionaire overnight by buying and selling pieces of paper. But we have seen how paper fortunes in financial markets can disappear overnight. Things need to change.”

He added: “As recent scandals have shown, banks could learn a thing or two about fair play from the Olympic movement.”

Sir Mervyn said the economy could learn a number of key lessons from the Games.

“First, and most important, we have been reminded that an objective that is worth attaining, like a gold medal, requires years of hard work. Success does not come overnight,” he said.

“That is as true of our economy as it is of sport. It means reforming our banking system so banks focus less on making money in the short term, and more on building businesses to serve their customers’ interests over the longer term.”

Bankers should focus less on money and more on their customers, he said.

Sir Mervyn’s comments came after business leaders met politicians at a summit in the capital to help build international business links ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics. Hosted by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, the Brazil Business Summit brought together UK and Brazilian businesses to forge new trading partnerhips, including mult-million pound opportunities to help deliver the 2016 Olympics.

It is part of a British Business Embassy programme which runs until September to help cement an economic legacy from London 2012, adding to deals worth up to £14bn announced recently.

Mr Clegg, MP for Sheffield Hallam, said: “We have identified huge opportunities for UK firms to work on the next Olympic games in Sochi and Rio – a golden boost to British business that will create jobs and support economic growth.”

Following September, initiatives to promote UK business will include further British Business Embassy programmes at major events, including the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014, and trade missions to countries set to host the Olympics in future years. An estimated £1.5bn worth of contracts have been identified flowing from Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016.