When Barclays board tried to force through a massive pay deal for Bob Diamond, they looked weak. Now that he's been forced to step down, they look weak and stupid. The reason that the argument over Bob Diamond's pay mattered was that it put the relationship between CEO and board under a spotlight - and made them both look ugly.

Break the banks up and they won't be too big to fail; they will - finally - be small enough for success.

I went to a very interesting dinner this week. Hosted by a senior banker, it included a number of other senior banking folk, several top consumer advocates, business leaders, a few social enterprises, PR advisors and a smattering of academics. The question: how might trust in banks be restored?

The moral chaos of the financial services industry is throwing up some interesting cultural findings. Among these is a recent report by corporate governance experts, Labaton Sucharow, showing that a quarter of the financial services executives they polled believed that unethical or illegal conduct might be required for professional success.

I would truly like to think that financial services were in good hands and that the UK banking industry was safe and sound; I'd sleep better if I did.