RPT-FEATURE-Politicians also to blame for crisis, say bankers
* System had political architects, bankers believe
* Politicians "encouraged" people to borrow
* Public anger brewing for some time
LONDON, April 16 (Reuters) - Bankers may rank below journalists among the professions least trusted by Britons, but they refuse to accept all the blame for the worst financial crisis in 70 years.
Conceding they have done their fair share in creating the crisis, many of those whose colleagues have been the target of recriminations argue that the system had political architects.
The argument may be predictable but, given the symbiotic relationship between global finance and political power, it is one with the capacity to undermine governments that played a role in the events leading to the credit crunch.
"For the politicians on both sides of the Atlantic to say it's 100 percent the fault of the bankers is a bit disingenuous," said Scott Moeller, director of mergers and acquisitions research at Cass Business School in London.
No politicians have placed all the blame for the crisis on bankers, but some have pointed the finger. In February, Michael Fallon, a member of the Treasury Select Committee -- a cross-party group of British members of parliament -- said bosses at HBOS and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) were "apologising for the fact the world had changed" and were "in denial ... about the extent they have failed".
Public anger towards bankers has been brewing for some time. Last October protesters greeted Lehman Brothers chief executive Richard Fuld with signs reading "Shame" and "Cap greed" as he arrived to testify to lawmakers about Lehman's bankruptcy.
"It's not fair to blame bankers for all the ills, when clearly government policies have encouraged home ownership, encouraged people to take out loans to buy things maybe they can't afford," Cass's Moeller said.
A British survey of public trust towards professions -- conducted in March by researchers for the Bar Standards Board -- put bankers near the foot of the table, although they were above politicians.
STILL WORK TO DO
Prime Minister Gordon Brown served as Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) from 1997 to 2007 and said he had ended the "boom and bust" cycle. He must call an election by June 2010 and his ruling Labour Party lags the opposition Conservatives by at least seven points in opinion polls. Continued...
