£ 0.5 billion to finally get the message on fair treatment

Today PWC revealed that banks had been fined £ 0.5 billion during 2013.

These fines were for a mix of "misdemeanours" including unethical selling as well as illegal acts such as Libor rate fixing. The figures don't even include "customer redress" so the actual amount is going to be even more massive and painful to the Boards of the banks.

It is no wonder then that the banks are finally getting the message from the Regulator that unethical behaviour and poor customer conduct will not be tolerated. Apparently there is now significant investment in customer focus to develop behaviours which genuinely treat customers fairly. The customer is apparently now topping the agenda.

 It's surely time now for shareholders to take stock, gear up and assert their authority by backing the Regulator so that their investment and reputations are not damaged further.

Paying less than the minimum wage, not unethical but unlawful

In today's media there is news that almost half of the private firms providing care for the elderly are paying less than the minimum wage to the care workers who give essential personal care to someone's mum or dad.This isn't just unfair treatment of employees but actually an illegal practice and reflects the general ethos of these "caring" companies, who also often operate on zero-hours contracts.

While Richard Preece, chairman of Allied Healthcare, announced last week that he intends to do away with these zero hours contracts, it is difficult to see how this limited gesture can improve the treatment of their ultimate customer, the frail, older person. Hopefully as the practices of these companies are more exposed by HMRC they will start to take their legal duties more seriously and  respond both to the letter and spirit of the law for the benefit of our increasingly older population.