Gillian Tett looks beyond yesterday's Today item on "jurisdiction shopping" by banks. She warns there is an unintended consequence of the current worldwide desire to bash the bankers. Legislators in key countries are busy unilaterally changing internationally-agreed rules. Unfortunately, Tett says, this makes it more likely that practices illegal in one country but legal in another will be used to cover up looming catastrophes in the capital markets.
Remember Trafigura? Recollect the Max Mosely case? Well this morning we learn that a Premier League footballer has won a new super injunction that prevents journalists writing about his affair with a team-mate’s girlfriend. The gagging order was granted by a High Court judge, Mr Justice Tugendhat, under human rights laws. I am not supposed to tell you that it exists. You can read a lot more about it in the Daily Mail. The married player successfully claimed that exposing his infidelity would be a breach of his right to a ‘private and family life’. Paul Dacre has chosen to ignore aspects of this restriction on free speech. You can find the player's name all over the internet.
