London: From Global Financial Leader to Global Financial Deceiver

Are London’s days as the global financial capital numbered?

Have bankers irreparably tarnished the reputation of this premier financial center?

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King put it best:

“Everyone now understands that something went very wrong with the U.K. banking industry,” he said at a news conference in London on June 29. “From excessive levels of compensation, to shoddy treatment of customers, to a deceitful manipulation of one of the most important interest rates, we can see that we need a real change in the culture of the industry.”

Indeed,...