HSBC receives a rebuke from MPs

HSBC has been criticised by the Treasury Select Committee for appearing to lobby ‘ by the back door’ against criminal sanctions for bosses of failed banks.

The committee has published a heated exchange of letters between its chairman Andrew Tyrie and HSBC chairman Douglas Flint over leaked reports in October that two independent board members intended to resign in protest against plans to make executives criminally liable if a bank fails.

In a letter to Flint, Tyrie demanded to know whether Alan Thomson and John Trueman had decided to leave the board of HSBC’s UK subsidiary, the reasons they gave and whether HSBC was the source of the leak.

Flint responded that Thomson’s resignation was ‘related to his overall work burden,’ caused partly by tougher regulatory demands of independent directors. Flint said Trueman ‘has not resigned and has confirmed he is not about to do so’. But he added that, at a board meeting in July, Trueman ‘expressed strong concerns about the possibility of increased liabilities for Neds [non executive directors]’ and that ‘ he would not be able to accept these, even if that meant he would have to step down.’

He said that ‘so far as I am aware’ the leak did not come from HSBC and pointed out that the meeting was also attended by both the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority. But yesterday Tyrie attacked HSBC for failing to set the record straight earlier. He said: ‘We may never know how the story came to be in the public domain.’

He also said banks should raise any objections to regulators ‘clearly and openly’, adding: ‘ To do otherwise gives the impression of bankers attempting to put pressure on regulators by the back door.’ AN UPSTART British video games group will today announce plans to float on London’s junior AIM market for £13m.

Gfinity organises tournaments in which gamers – including a growing number of professionals – battle it out on online games such as Call Of Duty (pictured) and where other internet users can also watch.

The new craze, known as ‘esports’, is the fastest growing area of the computer games industry. Amazon recently paid £600m for an internet TV channel, Twitch, devoted entirely to watching online competitions.

Gfinity’s sales in the six months to June were £197,000, racking up a loss of £326,000.