Don't lay off the accountants when the recession ends

When the WorldCom financial scandal brought American capitalism to its knees, respectable city gents were quick to argue it couldn't happen here.

And it is true to say the plethora of accounting problems to have beset the US financial and investment community have not all crossed the Atlantic - yet.

But to suggest that everything is fine and dandy in Europe is dangerous complacency.

Take the FTSE's (or Techmark's) dot-com boom and bust. It was just as excessive as the Nasdaq's, even if the amount of money made and lost was smaller.

We can't rest on the illusion of gentlemanly capitalism and British fair play to protect us from financial malfeasance.

The investment community will always attract crooks - especially during a boom, as witnessed in Japan a decade or more ago - and honest people will always stray from the path.

The financial community urgently needs tighter regulation. It's just as important for the technology industry as it is for the investment community.

Technology firms depend on the city for funding, for customers and funding for their customers. It's where all our pensions are kept.

So today's move by the Financial Services Authority to tighten up some financial regulations is welcome.

But for every new regulation that comes in, 20 teams of bright accountants will already be looking for a way round it.

So the FSA needs to keep its vigilance at maximum, not just while the recession makes accountant-hunting a popular sport but when the market picks up again.

That's when they need to be kept in check - we just hope the FSA's memory is long enough.