The big surprise this week was to discover that in spite of having reported on finance and financiers through five recessions and seven banking crises, their actions have still not lost their capacity to shock.
Philipp Hildebrand, head of the Swiss central bank, resigned on Monday when it became known that his wife, Kashya (perhaps to be known henceforth as Cash-ya) had been speculating in currencies - with his knowledge. She sold Swiss francs and bought a large position in dollars shortly before the Swiss authorities under her husband's leadership took action to stop the franc rising any further.
Though I have no special knowledge of their home life, I cannot imagine that the wife of Sir Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, would be tempted to take a punt with the housekeeping because government bonds look "ridiculously cheap" in advance of the next phase of quantitative easing .... nor that Sir Mervyn, if told of such a plan, would confirm that he was happy to leave such investment decisions to Lady King.
What is shocking is not that Mrs Hildebrand made a hefty profit, though she did, still less to suggest that she acted on inside information, because there is no evidence for that and nobody has alleged it. Rather the shock stems from the fact that Mr Hildebrand seemed firmly to believe that this was appropriate behaviour for a central banker and his wife. Their stance once the story broke was that of people who could not understand what the fuss was about - that it was perfectly natural for wealthy people in their position and with a lifestyle to maintain to play the markets on the side.
What is chilling is what this says about what are acceptable ethics in the modern financial world.
The generation of the Hildebrands' parents would have taken it as self-evident that holding the highest office in a central bank was incompatible with personal dealing. They would moreover have been deeply offended at the merest suggestion of such activity. It is a sign of how far the financial world has strayed that this intelligent and sophisticated couple could think so differently. That is what is so disturbing.
