Reply #57: Skeptics make great regulators, lawyers and investigators.

[ozymandius]

I like skepticism because it relies little on faith in believing the people will "do what's right".

From the article:

The 80-page study, a joint initiative with the Financial Reporting Council, details instances where auditors failed to highlight inconsistent fair value assumptions, as well as haphazard provisioning methodologies for loans that were inconsistent across and within banks.

Crucially, there was also “a general deficiency” to audit properly how banks separate clients’ money and assets. The FSA stressed these failings could give rise to enforcement action.

"Fair Value" - as in "make believe" that the underlying asset is worth more than it really is.