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Poor old Equitable Life, which was an early adopter of capital depletion long before the credit crunch, has shelved plans to sell the remainder of its business because of the turmoil. That won't make too much difference to policyholders, since the fund has been in run-off for several years. What would make a difference is compensation: this summer the Parliamentary Ombudsman, Ann Abraham, found the government guilty of serial failures in regulation and recommended that it set up a scheme to compensate victims, but nothing has happened so far.
Further embarrassment for the government may emerge from an investigation into government actuaries' alleged failure to spot the scandal. Equitable has been overshadowed by more shocking failures, but its victims deserve a bail-out just as much as savers in banks, and the government should respect the office of the Ombudsman. So let's have a positive response to her findings in time for Christmas.
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