Bank sets deadline on HBOS report
Former execs to face grilling by MPs over any interference
A CRUCIAL report into the collapse of HBOS could be published within weeks – despite last-ditch attempts by former executives to derail it.
Disgraced former HBOS executives have been asked for their permission to publish confidential information about their role in the fall of the High Street giant as a threeyear inquiry reaches its climax.
Crucially, the report will decide whether the City watchdog should take action against former chief executives James Crosby and Andy Hornby, as well as ex- chairman Lord Stevenson.
In a confidential letter seen by the Daily Mail that was sent to dozens of former HBOS executives, the Bank of England has ordered them to give their consent by October 12 for ‘confidential information’ to be published in the report.
Signed by a senior official at the Bank’s Prudential Regulation Authority, the letter said information will be blanked out – or redacted – in the report if any individual refuses to give their permission. But it warned they will be named and shamed in the footnotes of the report and any redactions are likely to be scrutinised by the influential Treasury Select Committee of MPs.
It also revealed some unnamed individuals are still challenging the findings under a controversial process known as Maxwellisation.
The letter, addressed from Debo- rah Chesworth, the head of the PRA’s Supervisory Oversight Function, and dated September 18, said: ‘If we have not received the necessary consents by the requested date, we intend to redact (black out) the relevant paragraphs and add a footnote explaining in full why they have been redacted.’
It added: ‘Qualified or conditional consents may be considered as a refusal of consent. We expect that any redactions are likely to be subject to scrutiny from the Treasury Select Committee.’
One MP confirmed it would vigorously pursue former executives who tried to suppress information.
Tory Mark Garnier warned: ‘We will look harder at the people who redacted information. We relish the opportunity to get stuck into this report as soon as possible. Any executive that doesn’t give their consent is simply providing us with a real opportunity to do some deep digging into what they did.’
This marks the final stage in a joint investigation by the PRA and the Financial Conduct Authority which has dragged on for more than three years – and has yet to emerge more than seven years after the collapse of HBOS in 2008.
The Financial Services Authority began its formal investigation into the downfall of HBOS in September 2012. It was meant to be published the following year, but the Financial Conduct Authority, which replaced the FSA in April 2013, moved the deadline to the end of last year. That was missed, meaning the report could not then be published until after the general election on May 7.
Furious MPs have criticised the repeated delays. But the letter from the PRA gives the strongest indication yet that publication is imminent, saying: ‘We are now nearing the point of publication of the report into the failure of HBOS.’
The delays have been caused largely by the process named after the late newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell, which allows those criticised to challenge what has been written about them. This process – which has also delayed publication of the Chilcot Report into the Iraq War – could yet result in further hold-ups as some individuals continue to challenge the findings.
Mr Garnier said: ‘Maxwellisation and redactions deny the authorities and the public the opportunity to learn lessons from the past.’
The Bank of England said: ‘The consent process is now under way and, once concluded, we will publish the report as soon as is practicable.’