A good letter in the Guardian today from one of my co-authors of this report:

Given that the "gagged" Barclays documents are now widely available, the bank's continuing attempts to ban publication are laughable and their arguments for non-disclosure indefensible (Judge upholds bank's attempt to gag Guardian, 20 March). Having read the seven documents, I am astonished at the scale of human and financial resource dedicated to conjuring profits from a systematic abuse of loopholes between different tax regimes. This is where global businesses plunder national treasuries. Legal it may be; responsible it certainly is not.

As co-author of a report on responsible corporate tax policies and practice, I have promoted "active tax responsibility", a concept that includes being "true to the spirit of the law and avoiding exploitation of loopholes". Alistair Darling proposes to include this in a new code for banking standards. But this will only be effective through a wholesale change in attitudes towards accountability and transparency in boardrooms. Now, if ever, is the time for principles and values to be counted above the pursuit of value at any cost.

Barclays are clearly not alone in this unprincipled activity. The Barclays documents prove that the combination of human intellect and greed is a powerful driver of economically irresponsible behaviours. This is not something laws alone can address: it requires business leaders to ask themselves whether they would feel comfortable if the hidden aspects of their business decisions were open to public scrutiny. If the answer is no then principles should overrule profits. In the longer term, the trusted and responsible corporation is the one where employees, customers and investors will choose to spend their time and money.
Geoff Lye
Vice-chairman, SustainAbility Ltd

Geoff and I are of an age where Barclays was automatically a dirty word top all those of good conscience.

It looks like it’s trying to regain that status.