Banks only need 'one referee' says Adam Smith Institute The report also calls for fines to be levied more upon staff found to be at fault, rather than on a firm as a whole. The Institute takes the example of Barclays" admission that it attempted to manipulate Libor that left it facing fines totalling £290m. In the Libor case, for example, the Barclays fine really only hurts the shareholders who are completely innocent, whereas the wrongdoers retain their bonuses and, in many cases, their jobs. Auditing firms should also be punished more severely, according to the report, and staff at accounting firms be personally liable in the event of financial malpractice being found. Britain's new financial regulators are due to officially come into being at the start of next year with the abolition of the Financial Services Authority. The Government has put much of the blame for the severity of the financial crisis on the failure of regulators to spot the problems in British banking system. At FSA staff are already largely working as they will under the organisation's successor bodies in preparation for the transition to the new system.