Help us design sustainable capital markets

It’s less than a year since our entire financial system was on the verge of meltdown, yet I’m constantly amazed by how many in business and government seem prepared to ignore the fundamental flaws the crisis exposed.

We hear today that the British Banking Association is urging regulators not to tighten the rules on holding cash and capital for the time being, because this will impact on recovery.

And we are told that the remuneration package agreed for Stephen Hester, the CEO of Royal Bank of Scotland is acceptable because it is based on the 'long-term' performance of the bank over the next three years.

These events provide dismal confirmation that little has been learned from the financial crisis and that the focus for most of our business leaders and for government is on getting back to 'business as usual' as quickly as possible.

No-one wants the painful recession to be prolonged. We all recognise the need to get RBS onto a strong footing so the bank can provide funding to businesses andwe, as taxpayers, can start to get repaid.

But I find it mind-boggling that powerful people can assume that we can simply revert to the old models of unsustainable growth funded by ever-increasing credit and incentivised by inappropriate remuneration.

Forum for the Future's new publication, Rethinking Capital, challenges this assumption. Building on themes from Jonathon Porritt's booklet, Living within our Means, it outlines the key areas where the finance sector needs to focus its attention in order to avoid 'the ultimate recession'.

In our view, it is simply inappropriate to put the finance sector back together without embedding some really fundamental changes.The financial crisis showed how shaky the foundations of the finance sector are - in valuation of assets, assessment of risk, investing in a sustainable future.We have to rethink these foundations urgently before we can rebuild.

So we’re calling on people with an interest in the finance sector, whether within or outside it, to help us design practical steps that can bring about capital markets that deliver what society actually needs.We outline our ideas for action in Rethinking Capital, and we hope that this will help create dialogue around the changes required. We know from the financial crisis that the capital markets tend to be misaligned with the public interest. Now is the moment to rethink them.