'Central bank boss should have quit'

Wednesday 20 January 2010

Central bank president Nout Wellink should have resigned to restore faith in the institution, a leading accountant told a parliamentary committee looking into the cause of the financial crisis and its effect on the Netherlands.

Jules Muis told the committee Wellink should have been aware of risks presented by developments in 'raw capitalism' much sooner. The credibility of the central bank has now been damaged and Wellink should make way for a replacement to win it back, the Telegraaf quoted Muis as saying.

Muis is former director general of the European Commission's internal audit service. Before that, he worked in a senior capacity for the World Bank.

'I've listened to the central bank's defence but it's the same old excuse for arriving late at school - the bridge was open,' Muis told the committee. 'It's very weak. And very tough lessons should be learned.'

Accountants have now begun learning their lesson, Muis was quoted as saying. Even though they were aware things were going wrong, 'they still danced to the raw capitalist tune' he said.

Accountants are now developing a system to alert the regulators if they see that more banks are adopting the same dangerous practices, he said.

© DutchNews.nl

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