Tuesday, 30 October 2012 09:51
Parliamentary Commission to take evidence on HBOS failure
The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards will be questioning senior figures about the failure of HBOS today.
Evidence will be taken via a sub-committee panel who will gather initial findings and report back to the commission.
Barrister David Quest has been appointed to act as specialist adviser to the commission with the power to examine witnesses, the first time a barrister has been used in a public evidence gathering session.
Today's witnesses will be Paul Moore, head of group regulatory risk, Colin Matthew, former chief executive of international and Jo Dawson, chief executive of retail distribution, insurance and investment.
"We want to find out not just what went wrong and how it was allowed to happen but also what warnings were or were not given and what warnings were ignored."
He said the commission was not seeking to replicate the work of the Financial Services Authority, whose investigation into HBOS has not yet begun, and would instead be focusing on corporate governance, culture and standards in the banking industry.
The commission hopes to report on professional standards in the UK banking sector and lessons to be learnt about corporate governance and its implications for regulation and Government policy. It will make recommendations for legislative action by December 18.
Evidence will be taken via a sub-committee panel who will gather initial findings and report back to the commission.
Barrister David Quest has been appointed to act as specialist adviser to the commission with the power to examine witnesses, the first time a barrister has been used in a public evidence gathering session.
Today's witnesses will be Paul Moore, head of group regulatory risk, Colin Matthew, former chief executive of international and Jo Dawson, chief executive of retail distribution, insurance and investment.
Lead panel member Lord Turnbull said: "This panel was created by the commission to undertake a case study of a failed bank and to identify what steps need to be taken to avoid a repetition.
"We already have a comprehensive overview of what went wrong at RBS. I have no doubt there are many other lessons to be learnt from the collapse of HBOS."We want to find out not just what went wrong and how it was allowed to happen but also what warnings were or were not given and what warnings were ignored."
He said the commission was not seeking to replicate the work of the Financial Services Authority, whose investigation into HBOS has not yet begun, and would instead be focusing on corporate governance, culture and standards in the banking industry.
The commission hopes to report on professional standards in the UK banking sector and lessons to be learnt about corporate governance and its implications for regulation and Government policy. It will make recommendations for legislative action by December 18.
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