The British public could justifiably claim to have been let down by their bankers. In late June, a computer problem meant that RBS and its subsidiaries were unable to process numerous client banking transactions for several days. Then in early July, it transpired that Barclays bankers were running amok manipulating a key customer benchmark rate. And now in late July, we learn that HSBC has been cosying up to some of the world’s most undesirable individuals and that the bank’s client records might be synonymous with the FBI’s most wanted list.
Nevertheless, one British banker continues to delight. The Daily Mail reports that Roger Jenkins, the follicly challenged but wallet-heavy former chief of Barclays Capital’s structured credit division, has been glimpsed on a motor boat in Ibiza with the middle-aged but youthful-looking top model Elle Macpherson.
A photograph accompanying the article shows a bejewelled Elle, clad in a black bikini, flashing her pearly white teeth and tousled mane of blonde hair. By her side stands a glowering Mr Jenkins, wearing distinctly dreary beach togs, a white cap jammed on to his head and with a chin sporting several days of grey stubble. It has been a while since Jenkins has graced this column.