dispatches.how.the.banks.never.lose.ws.pdtv.xvid-remax

Last night's Dispatches investigated how well the "big five" banks, HBOS, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB,HSBC,and Barclays were doing during the credit crunch.

Former City banker James Max revealed that the executives of the big five had been paid over a million pounds as well as bonuses during the 2007/8 gloomy financial year. Michael Geoghegan of HSBC, for example, was paid £1,070,000 in the 2007/8 financial year before bonus.

He tried to speak to the chief executives of the banks, even going to their head offices, but was turfed out every time.

While those at the top are raking it in, each of the "big five" banks has seen a dramatic fall in profits. For example, Barclays has seen a 33% fall while RBS made no profit at all. They've tried to get more money from their unfortunate customers. Higher interest rates can make banks millions, according to Moneyfacts.

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, repossessions this year will rise to 45,000. That's a lot of people without homes. Their stress levels will also cause many to become ill, costing the public even more through medical care.

In 2006, over 1 million mortgages were granted on a multiple of 6 more times the applicants income - 1 in 10 of all granted in the UK.

£50bn in public money was also been also used to underwrite the bad debts of banks . As Liam Halligan of Property Capital Management said "This is real money, that real people and business are writing checks for when they do their tax returns."

Mail on Sunday economics editor Dan Atkinson made the point that we will never know who has borrowed this money. Knowing this would reveal which banks had bad debts, leading to a run on the bank.

James Max also spoke to people affected by the banks' actions, such as Steve Lewis, who we see removing his possessions from the house he has lived in for 17 years, as he could not afford to pay the £300 per month increase in his mortgage payments (it should be noted he did get a reprieve from the courts after filming).

Hilary Leroux has been forced to work seven days a week in two jobs after being stuck with a Northern Rock "together mortgage" for 125% of the house's value -negative equity. She also has to take her young children with her.

Meanwhile, former CEO of Northern Rock Adam Applegarth, who resigned from Northern Rock in 2007, gets a redundency package per month of £63,000 and a £2million pension fund. Nice work if you can get it. Clearly, there have been failings at the very top.

As Chris Blackhurst, the economics editor of the Evening Standard, said, "you can blame the traders, you can blame the lenders...but there are people at the top who are paid vast sums. Their job is not to trade, not to lend. Their job is to oversee...I think they took their eye off the ball"

Max felt that the routine bonus culture was part of the problem, where even bankers who make mistakes get bonuses. The average finance bonus is £12,000, but the top 4,000 took home over £1million each in bonuses. He took us round a lovely house in the "stockbroker belt" and a Ferrari showroom where bankers in their twenties were buying £200,000 cars.

Gerait Anderson, a former investment banker, made the point that bonuses in the City were used as a status symbol "I never thought about anything over than next year's bonus".

The role of the Financial Services Authority, whose head Hector Sants also refused to talk to James Max, was also under scrutiny. Max made the point that the FSA was funded by the banks and run by an ex-banker. Some MP's have claimed the FSA failed in its duty as a regulator.

In the end, Max did manage to interview a British Banking Industry spokeswoman, who claimed that people in banking needed to be "well renumerated", although her arguments seemed pretty weak compared to those of financial journalists and those hit hardest by the crunch.

Clearly, the current banking system is causing harm to the UK economy. Maybe credit unions, which Max briefly examined, would be an alternative.

Once of the best Dispatches, with financial problems explained in everyday language. James Max's interviews with ordinary members of the public using cut-outs of CEO's worked well and he was very through.