11-02-2009, 02:28 PM
HBOS former CEO was also deputy chairman of the UK Financial Services Authority.
No wonder the FSA was bloody useless. Is it an eensy-weensy bit reminiscent of Bernard Madoff writing rules (the "Madoff Exception") during his tenor at the SEC, I wonder?
Can anyone explain to me why a government watchdog can be expected to function when it is staffed with the people it is supposed to be "watching"?
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Politic..._Authority
FSA Deputy Chair Crosby Resigns
The Prime Minister says the former chief executive of HBOS "was right" to step down as deputy chairman of the FSA.
Sir James Crosby has been an adviser to the Government on the mortgage market
Sir James Crosby has resigned following allegations he fired an employee who warned the bank was taking too many risks.
During Prime Minister's Questions, Gordon Brown said: "These are serious but contested allegations in relation to Sir James Crosby.
"These are allegations that he will have to defend, so it is right that he has stepped down as vice chairman of the Financial Services Authority."
Sir James, who left HBOS in 2006, has advised the Government on the mortgage market and on ID cards.
Opposition leader David Cameron asked Mr Brown if he accepted that he had made "a serious error of judgement" in appointing Sir James to the FSA.
Brown said the claims were contested
But the Prime Minister insisted that the allegations would be investigated and that the Conservatives should wait for the outcome.
He added that Sir James was no longer an economic adviser to the Government.
In a statement, Sir James said: "I am full of admiration for my colleagues at the FSA and the work they are doing under extreme pressure.
"As a non-executive director I have an absolute responsibility to ensure that I do not make their task any more difficult.
"Therefore, whilst I am totally confident that there is no substance to any of the allegations, I nonetheless feel that the right course of action for the FSA is for me to resign from the FSA Board which I do with immediate effect."
In written evidence to the Treasury Select Committee yesterday, HBOS' former head of risk, Paul Moore, said that he was fired in 2005 after warning that the bank was "going too fast".
Mr Moore insisted the current crisis could have been avoided if there had been adequate systems to hold bank chiefs in check.
"I told the board they ought to slow down but was prevented from having this properly minuted by the chief financial officer," he said.
The FSA said: "Sir James Crosby has decided to resign from the board of the FSA, for the reasons he has set out in his public statement, and we would like to thank him for his very significant contribution to the FSA over the past few years."
The regulator added that Mr Moore's allegations has been "fully investigated" by KPMG.
"The chairman of the FSA will write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer by the end of today," it said in a statement.
The Lib Dem treasury spokesman Vince Cable said: "My objections to having Sir James Crosby in a key role as a bank regulator go deeper than whether or not the allegations are true.
"He was one of the people at the heart of the reckless lending in the mortgage market over the last few years.
"It was a bad appointment."
No wonder the FSA was bloody useless. Is it an eensy-weensy bit reminiscent of Bernard Madoff writing rules (the "Madoff Exception") during his tenor at the SEC, I wonder?
Can anyone explain to me why a government watchdog can be expected to function when it is staffed with the people it is supposed to be "watching"?
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Politic..._Authority
FSA Deputy Chair Crosby Resigns
The Prime Minister says the former chief executive of HBOS "was right" to step down as deputy chairman of the FSA.
Sir James Crosby has been an adviser to the Government on the mortgage market
Sir James Crosby has resigned following allegations he fired an employee who warned the bank was taking too many risks.
During Prime Minister's Questions, Gordon Brown said: "These are serious but contested allegations in relation to Sir James Crosby.
"These are allegations that he will have to defend, so it is right that he has stepped down as vice chairman of the Financial Services Authority."
Sir James, who left HBOS in 2006, has advised the Government on the mortgage market and on ID cards.
Opposition leader David Cameron asked Mr Brown if he accepted that he had made "a serious error of judgement" in appointing Sir James to the FSA.
Brown said the claims were contested
But the Prime Minister insisted that the allegations would be investigated and that the Conservatives should wait for the outcome.
He added that Sir James was no longer an economic adviser to the Government.
In a statement, Sir James said: "I am full of admiration for my colleagues at the FSA and the work they are doing under extreme pressure.
"As a non-executive director I have an absolute responsibility to ensure that I do not make their task any more difficult.
"Therefore, whilst I am totally confident that there is no substance to any of the allegations, I nonetheless feel that the right course of action for the FSA is for me to resign from the FSA Board which I do with immediate effect."
In written evidence to the Treasury Select Committee yesterday, HBOS' former head of risk, Paul Moore, said that he was fired in 2005 after warning that the bank was "going too fast".
Mr Moore insisted the current crisis could have been avoided if there had been adequate systems to hold bank chiefs in check.
"I told the board they ought to slow down but was prevented from having this properly minuted by the chief financial officer," he said.
The FSA said: "Sir James Crosby has decided to resign from the board of the FSA, for the reasons he has set out in his public statement, and we would like to thank him for his very significant contribution to the FSA over the past few years."
The regulator added that Mr Moore's allegations has been "fully investigated" by KPMG.
"The chairman of the FSA will write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer by the end of today," it said in a statement.
The Lib Dem treasury spokesman Vince Cable said: "My objections to having Sir James Crosby in a key role as a bank regulator go deeper than whether or not the allegations are true.
"He was one of the people at the heart of the reckless lending in the mortgage market over the last few years.
"It was a bad appointment."
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
Carl Jung - Aion (1951). CW 9, Part II: P.14