Verdicts of peers
THE JOCKEY Club once informed the Prince Regent that the other members must decline to race their horses against his. That was a royal warning off. As a rule, though, the club has been happier cracking down on some flat-hatted trainer or par- venu owner who would never be allowed in. That is how peer group regulation works. In theory, the group will show peculiar ferocity to one of its own members who has let the side down. In practice, a peer group — and most of all a group of peers — will not be too hard on old Snooty. After all, they and he go back a long way. It is that fellow Whatsisname further down the line who gets warned off. Now we can watch the Securities and Futures Authority as it allo- cates blame for the Barings disaster. Peter Baring, the chairman, and Andrew Tuckey, chief executive, both of them on seven-fig- ure bonuses, successfully plead ignorance. Peter Norris, down the line from them, col- lects a three-year ban. Next it will be the turn of that colonial fellow with a beard. None of them were parties to Nick Lee- son's fraud, all played their parts in the loss of control which, as the chairman admitted, was total. Their failure and its conse- quences have turned the City's independent merchant banks into an endangered species. You might at least have thought that this would earn them ostracism, but Mr Tuckey is bowling along in the City (Mr Baring has retired), advising on the biggest bids and deals for the most superior clients. They and he go back a long way.
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