that’s the sort of attitude that gives our financial systems a bad name. It simply shouldn’t happen but people get lazy about the rules. It’s an institutional culture and I doubt it has improved despite all the regulations. i think there should be more regulation throughout to encourage competition, but the world has gone in a different direction because large multinational companies will find a way around rules individual countries may impose. Plus there are vested interests via the financial markets to keep this going (as pensions and various public services will be invested). You might remember when that Icelandic bank went bust and various local authorities lost millions.
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The finance sector was very good at applying the easy regulation. So they really know their customer - just not the info that will spot criminals. And they check and double check everything to that they get 100% compliance - so much so that many mid-level managers’ role is checking forms, rather than perhaps managing. I’m referring to their commercial banking operations rather than ordinary customers. There they get lots wrong first and second time round.
The 2008 crash hit the banks of some countries worse than others - Iceland, Ireland and the UK were badly exposed to the risk. Canada on the other hand barely suffered. I met an ex-board director of ABN Amro. That was the bank that Fred the Shred made RBS overpay for. It seems a few years prior to that takeover the board welcomed two new directors - Americans and leads for their investment bank division. They told the board that they would make ABN the biggest bank in the world. They forgot to mention that they would also make it the riskiest bank in the world. By the time RBS came looking to buy it the bank was chock full of bad debt. It was one of the main reasons RBS went bust.
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I’m not familiar with the RBS acquisition of ABN. Surprising that their due diligence would not have discovered such a poor balance sheet.
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Interesting Bretrick, I came upon a situation the other day.
I was on a route that took me over the Humber Bridge.
There used to be toll booths collecting a small fee for passing over the bridge.
A few years ago you could toss a pound into a collection funnel and the barrier would raise.
Then it all changed and you were offered a machine to stick your card in…
Now I was shocked to find no toll booths and a sign saying “Pay on the internet”
Not even a phone number without finding it on the internet.
So this world is turning into a world where you will be excluded or ‘cancelled’ if you don’t have access to the World Wide Web…
I find this situation unacceptable.
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If at times I am excluded or unable to purchase tickets etc, I move on. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Idiotic world we are living in.
It’s not small stuff though is it Bruce, just because driving over the Humber Bridge won’t ever be a problem for you, there will be other stuff that will affect you.
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Unacceptable while crossing the white elephant that is the humber bridge - but very common in any congestion charge or emissions charge zone. Or the Dartford crossing. Besides, didn’t the volume of traffic crossing the humber bridge fall to such a low level (because of the M18 being build) that it was costing more to collect than was collected?
There used to be a man sitting on a chair in North Wales collecting 5p pieces from people passing through Porthmadog - I’m not posting the BBC news site link because my browser says it’s insecure, but here’s a screenshot. Brings back nostalgic memories of long summer holidays in that beautiful part of the world.
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I’ve heard it called a 'White Elephant in the past but I suspect all the people living in Hull who want to travel South or work in Scunthorpe, and visa versa.
Personally I’ve used the bridge frequently over the years, and walked, run, cycled and motored over the bridge many times.
As a self employed courier I used the bridge often while doing jobs for City Link, a large national parcel company, sadly ceased trading now. They had a main distribution centre in Scunthorpe but strangely not one in Hull. So each day vans left Scunthorpe for deliveries in Hull and surrounding areas. I think the tolls were issued on a yearly basis, or paid by tokens each day.
There are currently around 100,000 vehicles crossing the bridge each week, without the bridge it would add a considerable distance to the mileage of the 100.000 vehicles, so good for the environment despite not being profitable.
I doubt that the volume of traffic decreased due to the opening of the M18 motorway because the M18 was opened to it’s full length in 1975 and actually pre dated the bridge which was opened to traffic in 1981.
With no proper airport on the North side the bridge provides a good connection for travellers to use Humberside Airport on the South side.
All of the charges you mentioned are just examples of businesses shafting the working classes with people losing jobs and being replaced by computers. The internet will fail, whether it be from disruptions of electrical supply, attacks of terrorism, or natural environmental and weather related issues.