No trust in financial services without jail time, shadow minister says

Financial services will never rebuild trust with consumers or affect a change in the sector unless custodial sentences are imposed on those guilty of criminal wrongdoing, Chuka Umunna, shadow business secretary has said.

Speaking at an event in London yesterday, Labour's Umunna said for the City to continue to perform its functions as a global financial hub and provider of finance to the real UK economy, it must command trust and confidence. To achieve this, it must be seen to punish those who do wrong, he said, giving the example of the LIBOR rate rigging scandal as one area where he would like to see prosecutions. "It cannot be right that someone who seeks to cheat the benefits system out of a couple of hundred pounds in my constituency may well be thrown into jail for doing so, but those who seek t...