'Bold Knaves Thrive..'

"Bold knaves thrive without one grain of sense,
but good men starve for want of impudence" Dryden.

H-S-B-C,
fifty billion down you see.
H-B-O-S,
equally drowning in the mess.
Someone, somewhere, tell me why
my banking charges are so high!

You, R-B-S,
and you morons saying yes;
the problem's going Nationwide,
will anyone admit they lied?
Enough to make accountants scoff - it
seems personal banking remains in profit!

Oh, C-D-O!
What d'you mean you didn't know?
You bought a piece of fifty billion,
debt discounted by many a million,
smelling no rats, you act like mice
- did you ask about the price?

So I-O-U
to bail out poor, little you:
not your fault the crazy Yanks
forgot the golden rule of banks;
lending money - willy nilly-
pay it back? Don't be silly!

K-I-S-S,
here's a clue to all this mess:
C is complex; arcane as code,
D is debt, that's something owed?
O - obligation - meaning trouble:
sub-prime crisis? It's a bubble.

Footnote:
KISS is a very fine acronym for something it pays to remember;
Keep It Simple Stupid.