The suggestion is that individual ‘commissioners’ for the inquiry would be drawn from professions untainted by involvement in the causes of the credit crunch. They would be people of experience and expertise who manage risk and make significant decisions in other contexts, without needing the motivation of huge financial reward. They would be people at the top of their professions, well able to test the intellectual skills and character of our self-proclaimed masters of the universe.
A starting point might be to draw on candidates from the following professions. These are suggested on the basis that they deal with risk on a daily basis, exercise significant personal responsibility on the basis of trained expertise, and suffer sanctions in the event of incompetence or negligence. Many also rank highly in league tables of professions trusted by the public.
- A surgeon
- A scientist
- A structural or civil engineer
- An airline pilot
- A midwife or senior nurse
- An officer from any branch of the Armed Services
- A senior classroom teacher or school Head
- A GP
- A university professor
- A local authority chief executive
- A police commander
- An ambulance driver
As one of the next stages in forming the commission, relevant professional bodies and associations will be approached. This will establish their level of interest in supporting the idea of the commission, and in making nominations.
Commissoners may also emerge through other routes, such as self-nomination or nomination by organisations which share a concern with understanding more of the workings of the financial services industry and the causes of the banking crisis. This may include major charitable bodies, and the trade unions, now dealing with the consequences of what has happened since mid 2007.