4 stooges apologise

Four of the bankers blamed for Britain’s financial crisis gave a grovelling apology today as they admitted making huge mistakes in the run-up to the credit crunch. Former Royal Bank of Scotland chiefs Sir Tom McKillop and Sir Fred Goodwin, and ex-HBOS bosses Lord Stevenson and Andy Hornby finally said sorry for their roles. But during a humiliating grilling before the Treasury Select Committee, they insisted they too had lost millions after reinvesting their bonuses before shares collapsed. And, under fire from furious MPs, they each denied being personally responsible for bringing the banks to their knees and insisted they had behaved responsibly. It also emerged during their evidence that a senior HBOS executive who had warned the board back in 2004 that it was taking huge risks was sacked In a bruising televised showdown in the Commons, they were subdued as they were forced to defend their actions and huge bonuses they enjoyed while at the helm. The MPs on the Committee repeatedly ripped apart their answers as they insisted they had not seen the credit crunch coming and were not personally to blame. During the humiliating encounter: • The bankers claimed the financial crisis had personally cost them millions because they had reinvested their bonuses in shares which have now plunged; • Ex-RBS boss Sir Tom admitted buying ABN Amro just as the credit crunch was starting was ‘a bad mistake’. He was told he had ‘destroyed’ a great British bank; • Sir Fred was accused of denying the facts once the crisis had taken hold but insisted he had led RBS responsibly; • They conceded they had not always lived up to the single most important function of a bank – to safeguard customers’ money until it is needed; • Mr Hornby said the much-derided bonus system should change but Sir Fred said it was essential as staff would simply move on if they were not rewarded. Each was also forced to admit that they had no formal banking qualifications as the MPs probed how exactly they had come to be in charge of the banks in the first place. Only Sir Fred, who is a qualified accountant, and Mr Hornby who has an MBA from Harvard specialising in finance, said they had any relevant studies. Following the Government’s two bailouts of the banks in the past four months, RBS is now almost 70 per cent state-owned. Lloyds Banking Group, which now owns Halifax, is 43 per cent owned by the state – at a cost to taxpayers of £37billion. Today is the first time their former bosses have been forced to give an account of exactly how they came to be so perilously close to complete collapse. The tense session began with an unqualified apology from all sides. Lord Stevenson said: ‘We are profoundly and, I think I would say, unreservedly sorry at the turn of events. All of us have lost a great deal of money, including of course a great number of our colleagues, and we are very sorry for that. ‘There has been huge anxiety and uncertainty caused for particular of our colleagues but also, for periods of time, for our customers and I would also say we are sorry at the effect it has had on the communities we serve.’ Sir Tom said he was happy to repeat the ‘full, unreserved’ apology he had made last November, adding: ‘We were particularly concerned at the serious impact on shareholders, staff, and indeed the anxiety it caused to customers.’ Ex-RBS boss Sir Fred said: ‘I could not be more sorry for what has happened. I have invested a lot in Royal Bank of Scotland and it is of great distress to me what my colleagues are going through.’ Mr Hornby added that he was ‘extremely sorry for the turn of events’ at HBOS but denied he was ‘personally culpable’ for its problems

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