the need for more accountability on the part of company directors

Steal a little and they put you in jail

Steal a lot and they make you king

- Bob Dylan

In NZ if you steal a lot, you get a knighthood, then a public telling off when the ugly truth is revealed.  While the likes of Douglas Graham (pictured) and Tipene O'Reagan aren't in the same league as Messrs Fay and Richwhite, and were undoubtedly seduced by the offer of fat directors fees in return for attending a dozen meetings a year to rubber stamp accounts and prospectuses, before chatting about the yachting or golf over a brandy, they should have known better.

There are several reforms to company legislation needed to avoid the sort of meltdown that we have seen over the last four years, but one glaringly obvious one is to require the directors of any institution that borrows money from the public to add their personal guarantees of repayment.  It's hard for any small to medium enterprise to get supplies on credit these days without doing this for the supplier, and the same should apply to all financial corporate bodies.