James Moore: Life’s starting to look good in banking again

“Woe is me,” has been the cry of the banking industry for several years now.

It has had to pay huge fines, some of the little people have been banned from the City.

One of them (Tom Hayes) is even languishing in jail after prosecutors successfully portrayed him as the kingpin of the Libor interest-rate fixing scandal.

Worst of all, the EU and the Bank of England have — between them — made it quite a bit harder for the sector’s stars to get their hands on their beloved bonuses.

But as the grey autumn clouds return to London, there’s now a little sun shining on the industry.

Start with the Competition & Markets Authority, which many — including challenger banks such as TSB and Virgin Money — said should take radical action on current accounts.

Some argued for an end to free banking, because it isn’t really free. Some called for a break-up of the big boys.

The CMA today said it would just like it made easier to compare and switch accounts.

This comes just days after the Government back-pedalled on the “presumption of responsibility” that would have put the onus on top bankers to prove they had done their job in the event of scandal.

Instead we have the lawyers’ dream of a “duty of responsibility”. Martin Wheatley, the tough-as-nails boss of the Financial Conduct Authority, was booted out while banks have been queueing up to ask for “transitional waivers” that would allow them to get out of ring-fencing their retail banks.