HBOS: Bosses Get Bonuses 'For Going Bust'

Pressure is mounting on disgraced former HBOS bosses amid anger over mammoth pension pots and nearly £1m of "bonuses for going bust".

Seven directors of HBOS landed £914,000 in "change of control" payments triggered by the bank's rescue takeover by Lloyds Banking Group, following its £20.5bn taxpayer bailout in 2008.

It also emerged that Sir James Crosby and Andy Hornby - two of the three former HBOS chiefs damned last week by a parliamentary commission for "catastrophic failures of management" - were on pension schemes that accrued benefits at twice the rate of average workers.

Mr Hornby, eligible to start drawing down a £240,000-a-year HBOS pension when he turns 50 in four years' time, is now in the spotlight following Sir James's decision earlier this week to hand back 30% of his £580,000-a-year pension.

Under the change of control payments handed out at the time of the Lloyds takeover, Mr Hornby received £251,000 cash and 7,599 shares - on top of salary, pensions awards and redundancy payments.

MPs are now demanding an inquiry into the handouts.

John Mann, MP and member of the Treasury Select Committee, said the due diligence done at the time of the deal needed to be investigated, while the former bosses should also pay the money back.

He told the Guardian: "This is taxpayers' money being used to pay bonuses to bankers that brought down their own bank and cost thousands of ordinary workers their jobs - These are bonuses for going bust."

Others to receive the payments include Peter Cummings - the former head of corporate lending and the only ex-HBOS director penalised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) after being fined £500,000 and banned for life from working in the City. He received £129,000 and 2,051 shares.

Lloyds said the decisions to award change-of-control payments and pensions were made by HBOS before its takeover.

A spokesman said: "At the time these arrangements were settled, Lloyds did not own HBOS.

"All decisions with respect to the redundancy or severance terms applicable to departing HBOS senior executives, including pensions, were made by the HBOS remuneration committee or board of HBOS prior to the acquisition by Lloyds."

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Floods: UK Insurers Avoid Covering Risky Homes

By Becky Johnson, North of England Correspondent

People whose homes have been devasted by flooding fear they will be unable to get insurance in future as talks between the Government and insurers have so far failed to reach an agreement.

At present insurers are required to provide cover at reasonable rates provided the Government continues to strengthen flood defences, but this agreement - known as the Statement of Principles - is due to expire in June this year.

In St Asaph in North Wales more than 400 homes were deluged when the River Elwy burst its banks last November. So far, the majority of people have still been unable to return to their houses.

James Alcock stands in his kitchen after flood water recedes

John Wynn Jones who is a local councillor and whose own home was flooded told Sky News: "What we are finding is that because people are so concerned about getting insurance, as well as clearing up after the floods themselves, people are actually considering not moving back into their homes.

"They don't want to get back into their properties and then find out they can't get insurance or the premiums are now so high they can't afford it.

"There's one lady who was insured and ... they've told her they won't be able to renew her policy. When she's questioned it, they've told her 'you no longer fulfil our criteria'. It hasn't been explained to her why but she says the only thing that's changed is she has now been flooded.

"Another resident has had to shop around. Her existing premium had been £200 a year and the best deal she can get now is £1,200 a year. Someone else was told they'd only get a policy with a £10,000 excess.

"People are desperate to have the cover but a lot of people are saying they don't have the money to pay so they'll end up living in uninsured properties."

A fireman helps a member of the public in Aberfoyle

Aidan Kerr, head of property at the Association of British Insurers (ABI), said: "We continue discussions with Government on the model we have developed to safeguard the availability and affordability of flood insurance for those at high risk.

"With flooding the biggest natural risk the UK faces, it is important we have consensus on managing the risk going forward, which includes sustained and targeted flood defence investment and sensible planning decisions."

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs told Sky News: "We want to get an agreement on insurance that provides a lasting solution and secures affordability and availability of flood insurance for policy holders.

"Constructive negotiations are ongoing and Government is meeting with the ABI regularly."

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Cyprus Crash Fear As Bailout Cost Jumps 31%

The Cypriot government has confirmed that the cost of its EU-IMF bailout has jumped by 31%, putting the already teetering economy in danger of collapse.

Government spokesman Christos Stylianides said: "It's a fact the memorandum of November talked about 17.5bn euros (£14.9bn) in financing needs. And it has emerged this figure has become 23bn euros (£19.6bn)."

The announcement means southern Cyprus will now have to find 6bn euros (£5.1bn) more than the 7bn euros the Nicosia government needed to raise in order to secure the EU-IMF bailout of 10bn euros (£8.5bn).

"Who is responsible for this? How did we get here? It was the fear of responsibility and indecision of the previous government," Mr Stylianides told reporters.

Cyprus has hit affluent bank savers with a massive tax to help secure the earlier agreed EU bailout funds.

But widespread outrage forced the government in southern Cyprus to reconsider its original plan to tax all account holders, instead focusing on those with more than 100,000 euros (£85,000) in accounts.

The bank levy affected many expats and foreign investors, particularly those from Russia.

The two countries share cultural ties through the orthodox Christian religion.

It has also announced plans to bulk sell gold on world markets, forcing Goldman Sachs to downgrade its 2013 price forecast for the precious metal.

Cyprus' sale plan would be the first major gold disposal by a euro area central bank since France sold 17.4 tonnes of gold in the first half of 2009.

"The Cyprus news has damaged gold in the last 24 hours in conjunction with the Goldman gold downgrade and the 17-tonne outflows from the metal's exchange-traded funds," Societe Generale analyst Robin Bhar said.

At current prices, 400m euros' (£340m) worth of gold amounts to 10.36 tonnes of metal.

Cyprus' total bullion reserves stood at 13.9 tonnes at end-February, according to data from the World Gold Council.

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Young App Creators Earning Thousands A Day

By Gemma Morris, Presenter

A university student has told Sky News he can make up to £2,000 per day developing apps in his spare time.

Josh Gare is just one of a growing number of young app entrepreneurs making a splash in a field sparked by the popularity of mobile devices.

The 20-year-old from Berkshire taught himself to write apps at the age of 16 after reading about the process.

Some 2.5 million people around the world have now bought his various creations from Apple's App Store, including the emoticons app Emoji.

He admits it is difficult to compete in the market, but says it is still a lot easier compared to some other business areas.

"I'm competing with Apple, Apple's apps, EA, these huge companies. But if I was to say, start up a fizzy drink company, I wouldn't be able to compete with Coca-Cola," he said.

In March, British 17-year-old Nick D'Aloisio made global headlines after selling one of his apps to Yahoo! in a multimillion pound deal.

The success stories come at a time when around one in five 16 to 25-year-olds in the UK are out of work.

In 2008, Apple's App Store opened with around 500 apps. Today there are more than 800,000.

Google, which sells android apps - that's Apple's rival operating system - has over 700,000 in its Play Store.

But just as hype around the internet led to the dot-com boom - and subsequent bust - in the late nineties, some critics fear the new money in the 'app economy' could be a signal that we are in an 'app bubble'.

Eden Zello, consumer analyst at Ovum, suggests keen youngsters should not give up the day job or quit university just yet.

"It's every would-be developer's dream to come up with the next Angry Birds or to have their application acquired by an internet giant like Yahoo but the reality is, for every Angry Birds, there are dozens and dozens of applications that disappear without trace," he said.

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KPMG 'May Be Investigated' Over HBOS Role

The independent audit regulator has announced it might launch an investigation of KPMG over its accounting role at HBOS in the run-up to the bank's failure.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) said it will consider the probe in the wake of a damning report on the bank's collapse and taxpayer bailout.

A spokeswoman for the body said: "The FRC will consider the Parliamentary Commission and FSA reports to identify whether there is a case for an investigation under our powers."

KPMG believes its auditing of HBOS was sufficient and told Sky News: "We stand by the quality of our audit work at HBOS."

The news of a possible investigation of KPMG comes after the FBI launched an investigation into alleged insider trading involving one of its partners in the US. The two inquiries are not connected.

Meanwhile, pressure continues to mount on two members of the 'HBOS Three', after former chief executive Sir James Crosby decided to give up his knighthood and a portion of his £580,000 pension.

Ex-chairman Lord Stevenson and Andy Hornby were also urged to offer sacrifices by members of a Parliamentary commission in the wake of the critical report on the bank collapse and £20.5bn bailout.

According to the Financial Times, Downing Street has said it was now a "matter for their consciences and judgment".

Mr Hornby, who was in charge at the time of the taxpayer-bailout remains CEO of gambling firm Gala Coral, which is owned by three private equity firms.

The 'HBOS Three' - Lord Stevenson, Sir James Crosby and Andy Hornby (l-r)

The three former bosses who ran HBOS in the run-up to its dramatic collapse were found to be ultimately to blame for "catastrophic failures of management", according to the commission's report.

The men's "toxic" misjudgments were blamed for the bank's downfall at the height of the financial crisis.

Lord Stevenson has come under heavy fire, having infuriated the commission by claiming reckless lending at HBOS was not his fault because he was "only there part time".

The commission said it was wrong that Peter Cummings was the only former HBOS director to have been penalised by the FSA, after being fined £500,000 and banned for life from working in the City last September.

It called on the new City regulator to consider barring Sir James, Mr Hornby and Lord Stevenson from taking up any role in the financial sector.

Sir James said the report made for "very chastening reading", and wanted to give up £174,000 - a total of 30% - of his pension.

Sky News City Editor Mark Kleinman revealed on Wednesday night that Sir James had stepped down as non-executive director of catering firm Compass Group.

The former bank boss still holds his knighthood as he cannot himself renounce the title, which was given to him after leaving HBOS in 2006.

Sir James, who stepped down from his role with private equity firm Bridgepoint last Friday, said he was "deeply sorry" for what happened at HBOS and the "ensuing consequences" for the bailed-out bank's staff, shareholders and taxpayers.

For his knighthood to be withdrawn, the Honours Forfeiture Committee has to make a recommendation to the Prime Minister, who then passes it on to the Queen for a decision.

He said he was also standing down from his voluntary position as a trustee of Cancer Research UK with "great personal sadness", but is expected to remain chairman of car credit company Money Barn.

Sir James was chief executive of HBOS from 2001 to 2006 and former deputy chairman of the now-defunct City watchdog, the Financial Services Authority.

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Homeless Fears For Millions Without Savings

One-in-three people would struggle to pay their rent or mortgage within a month of losing their job, a charity has warned.

Some 35% of workers - around 8.6 million people - do not have enough money put aside to meet their housing needs beyond four weeks, a YouGov poll for Shelter found.

Around a fifth of Britons - roughly 4.4 million people - would be at risk of becoming homeless immediately.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said: "These figures paint an alarming picture of a nation where the buffer between having a home and potentially becoming homeless is a single pay cheque.

"Millions are living on the edge of a crisis, only secure in their homes for a matter of weeks.

"At the same time, support for people who have lost their homes is being stripped away.

"It's easy to see why every 15 minutes, another family in England finds themselves homeless."

The survey of 2,000 people found families with children would fare even worse in the event of redundancy.

Around two-in-five parents said they could not afford to pay for their home for more than a month, while a quarter said they could not meet their payments at all.

The Department for Communities and Local Government pointed to figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, which show repossessions are at a five-year low and falling.

However, a spokesman added: "We are not complacent and would urge anyone facing financial difficulties to seek early help to avoid losing their home.

"We have one of the strongest safety nets in the world against homelessness, bolstered by £470m Government cash and extra flexibility for councils to help those in need.

"We've also put help in place, including the extended £221m Mortgage Rescue Scheme and funding for organisations including Shelter, to provide information and advice services."

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RBS Investigated By New Watchdog Over IT Woes

The newly-formed Financial Conduct Authority has started an investigation into the Royal Bank of Scotland group's computer failure last year.

The FCA, which has recently replaced the Financial Services Authority as the City watchdog, launched the "enforcement" following the group's widespread IT outage.

RBS CEO Stephen Hester apologised

The glitch affected millions of people with bank and online accounts at RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank.

RBS chief executive Stephen Hester was forced to apologise repeatedly for the problem, and the group subsequently set aside tens of millions of pounds to deal with customer complaints.

In a statement, the FCA said: "The Financial Conduct Authority has started to conduct an enforcement investigation into the IT failures at RBS which affected the bank's customers in June and July 2012.

"The FCA will reach its conclusions in due course and will decide whether or not enforcement action should follow that investigation."

Customers were affected across the United Kingdom and southern Ireland, along with residents of other countries using web services.

A spokesman for RBS told Sky News: "Last summer's IT failure was unacceptable.

"We have already made significant improvements and over the next three years will invest hundreds of millions in our systems.

"We will be working closely with our regulators in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

"Our customers deserve a service they can rely on 100% of the time and that's what we want to provide."

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Sir James Crosby: Ex-HBOS Chief Forgoes Title

Former HBOS chief executive Sir James Crosby will ask for his knighthood to be removed and give up 30% of his pension after last week's damning report into the bank's collapse.

The 57-year-old said he was "deeply sorry" for what happened at HBOS and the "ensuing consequences" for the bailed-out bank's staff, shareholders and taxpayers.

He had stepped down from his job with private equity firm Bridgepoint on Friday.

The bank's former boss was given a knighthood after leaving HBOS in 2006, but said he believed "it is right that I should now ask the appropriate authorities to take the necessary steps for its removal".

The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards had described Sir James as the "architect of the strategy that set the course for disaster" and held primary responsibility for the collapse along with former chairman Lord Stevenson and fellow chief executive Andy Hornby.

The report blamed the trio's "toxic" misjudgments for the bank's downfall and £20.5bn taxpayer bailout at the height of the financial crisis.

It also said the financial regulator should consider whether the three should ever be allowed to work in the financial sector again.

Sir James said the report made for "very chastening reading".

"Although I stood down as CEO of HBOS in 2006, some three years before it was taken over by Lloyds, I have never sought to disassociate myself from what has happened," he said.

"I would therefore like to repeat today what I said when I appeared in public before the Commission in December; namely that I am deeply sorry for what happened at HBOS."

His decision to forgo 30% of his pension will still leave him with an annual pay-out worth £406,000.

He said he was also standing down from his voluntary position as a trustee of Cancer Research UK with "great personal sadness".

Sir James has also resigned as senior independent director at catering giant Compass.

Sir Roy Gardner, Compass chairman, said: "On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank James for the significant contribution he has made to the Company over the last six years."

He remains chairman of the car credit company Money Barn.

The Honours Forfeiture Committee is responsible for considering cases where people could be stripped of awards.

It can look at cases where individuals are found guilty of criminal offences, or reprimanded by a regulator. However, it has scope to take into account other factors.

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Hedge Funds In Talks Over RBS Branches Bid

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

Two hedge funds which made millions of pounds shorting UK bank shares during the 2008 financial crisis are in talks to back a £1bn bid for more than 300 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) branches.

I have learnt that Lansdowne Partners and GLG, which is part of the listed Man Group, are among more than 20 institutions which have indicated their interest in participating in an offer for the branch network.

The prospective involvement of the hedge funds is likely to provoke comment in the City because they were among dozens of investors which profited from bets that banks' share prices would fall during the febrile period leading up to taxpayers' rescue of lenders including Northern Rock and RBS.

Neither GLG nor Lansdowne has formally committed funds yet to the institutions' bid, although GLG's interest is understood to be the more advanced of the two.

Lansdowne made handsome profits from shorting shares in banks such as Barclays and HBOS, whose senior executives were last week criticised by the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards for their role in its near-collapse.

The offer would involve an investment worth hundreds of millions of pounds being made into a new company that would have a binding commitment to acquire the RBS branches.

The company would then be floated on the stock exchange.

The institutions' offer is principally made up of major UK pension funds and other investors, such as F&C, Schroders and Threadneedle.

It is being led by Andy Higginson, a former finance director of Tesco and non-executive director of BSkyB, the owner of Sky News.

RBS is expected to decide as soon as this week about the next stage of the process to offload the 316 branches.

People close to the auction said the taxpayer-backed bank could elect to enter exclusive talks with a bidder imminently.

The City institutions are vying with a bid from two private equity groups, Corsair Capital and Centerbridge, who are backed by prominent investors such as Lord Rothschild.

Another private equity consortium is also in the running.

RBS has been forced to sell the branches as part of a package of state aid remedies agreed between the UK Government and the European Commission.

Neither GLG nor Lansdowne would comment on Monday.

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Energy Debts: Amount Families Owe Mounts

The number of families in debt to their energy supplier is rising, with around one in five households owing money, a study suggested.

Collectively, Britons are estimated to owe £637m to energy firms, which is £159m more than last year's projections, comparison website uSwitch said.

Some 20% of bill payers surveyed by the website, equating to more than five million households nationally, are in debt to their energy supplier after falling behind with payments or due to discrepancies between estimated bills and actual amounts.

This figure is up from 14% when similar research was carried out last year.

The latest survey of more than 2,000 bill payers in February found that the typical amount owed is £8 less than it was a year ago, at £123.

But a recent string of price hikes by energy companies combined with the unseasonably chilly weather could see the size of people's energy debts shooting back up again, the study warned.

The average annual household energy bill has risen by almost £100 in the space of a year, adding to the pressure on families as wages remain stagnant.

The website said the typical bill now stands at £1,353 a year, which is around £830 higher than it was in 2004.

This sum is based on a consumer who uses a medium amount of electricity and gas on a standard dual fuel bill, paying quarterly by cash or cheque.

Just over one fifth of those in debt to their supplier said they were turning a "blind eye" to what they owe in the hope that the amount will go down naturally over time.

A similar proportion plan to pay off a big lump sum, while one in 12 people in debt said they would need to try and agree a repayment plan with their supplier.

Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch, said: "The soaring number of households in debt to energy suppliers is a clear indication of the pressure people are coming under just to meet the cost of their basic bills."

She said ways that people could cut down on their costs included paying by direct debit as suppliers tended to offer discounts for paying in this way.

And consumers should also make sure that someone was taking regular meter readings, as relying on estimated bills can be a "shortcut to debt".

A Green Deal scheme has recently been launched by the Government, which allows people to make energy efficiency improvements such as loft insulation or double glazing at no up front cost. Repayments are then to be added to the property's energy bill over a period of time.

Last week, utility giant SSE was handed a record £10.5 million fine by regulator Ofgem for "prolonged and extensive" mis-selling.

SSE provided "misleading and unsubstantiated statements" to potential customers about prices and savings that could be made by switching to SSE, according to Ofgem.

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Cable 'Wants Investigation Into HBOS Life Bans'

An investigation is to be launched into whether the three former HBOS directors blamed for the banking group's collapse can be banned as company directors for life, it has been reported.

The Business Secretary has asked his officials to see if there is enough evidence against Lord Stevenson, the former HBOS chairman, Sir James Crosby, the former chief executive, and Andy Hornby, his successor, to start a formal probe under the Company Directors Disqualification Act.

Vince Cable told The Sunday Times it was the first step in a process which could lead to the three - who have so far not faced formal sanction - being barred from acting as company directors.

The move comes in the wake of a damning report into the collapse of the bank by the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards published on Friday.

The group was given a £20.5bn bailout

It found Sir James was the "architect of the strategy that set the course for disaster" and held primary responsibility for the collapse along with former chairman Lord Stevenson and fellow chief executive Andy Hornby.

Their "toxic" misjudgments led to the bank's downfall and a £20.5bn taxpayer bailout at the height of the financial crisis and they should never be allowed to work in the financial sector again, according to the influential commission of MPs and peers.

Mr Cable told The Sunday Times: "It's quite a legalistic process. I can ask (officials) to look at whether the companies investigations branch take action.

"We do have this power which I have begun to initiate."

Sir James stepped down from his role as a member of Bridgepoint's European Advisory Board on Friday but remains chairman of the car credit company Money Barn and a senior independent director for Compass, one of the country's largest catering firms, according to company spokespeople, as well as a trustee for Cancer Research UK.

Mr Hornby's current employer, Gala Coral, has said he has their "complete backing" as chief executive.

Sir James and Lord Stevenson have so far retained their titles, though the Royal Bank of Scotland's disgraced former boss Fred Goodwin was stripped of his knighthood.

Peter Cummings is the only former HBOS director to have been penalised by the Financial Services Authority, after being fined £500,000 and banned for life from working in the City last September.

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State Assets Body Names Russell As New Boss

The body which manages tens of billions of pounds worth of state-owned assets will on Monday name a new boss as it steps up plans for a £4bn privatisation of the Royal Mail.

I have learnt that Mark Russell is to be handed the role of running the Shareholder Executive on a permanent basis.

Mr Russell, a former corporate financier at the accounting firm KPMG, has been acting in the post since his predecessor, Stephen Lovegrove, moved to become permanent secretary at the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Mr Russell's appointment will be announced by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), which oversees the Shareholder Executive(ShEx).

It has been approved by Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, following an open competition.

The elevation of its new chief executive comes at a critical juncture for the Coalition's plans to offload some of the state's most valuable remaining assets.

Mr Russell has been closely involved with ongoing preparations to sell Royal Mail, which will probably take place through a stock market flotation towards the end of this year.

Michael Fallon, the business and energy minister, is understood to have forged a close working relationship with Mr Russell during his time as acting chief executive of ShEx.

The Royal Mail sell-off will include at least 10 per cent of the company's shares being offered to staff, with ShEx playing an integral role in the creation of an employee share ownership scheme.

A number of other Government-owned assets are also on the block. Britain's one-third stake in Urenco, the nuclear fuel processor, has been put up for sale, potentially generating a £3bn windfall for taxpayers. Mr Lovegrove and Mr Russell are both involved in that sale process.

A substantial student loan portfolio, and the NHS's principal blood plasma supplier are among the other privatisations under consideration as the Treasury pushes Whitehall departments to raise additional money for the Exchequer.

Mr Russell, who led the Business Department's involvement in last year's abortive merger talks between BAE Systems and EADS, is also a non-executive director of London and Continental Railways Limited and Eurostar International Limited.

A BIS spokeswoman declined to comment on Sunday.

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Axminster Rescue To Save 100 Devon Jobs

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

One of Britain's oldest carpet-makers is to be rescued in a deal that will preserve about 100 jobs in the south-west of England.

I understand that Axminster Carpets, which traces its roots back to 1755, will be bought out of administration by a local consortium. An announcement about the deal is expected.

The consortium is being led by Stephen Boyd, a businessman who chairs Pittards, a major leather supplier, and includes backing from Centric Commercial Finance, an invoice discounting and asset-based lending group.

Axminster fell into administration last month, citing difficult trading conditions, with the loss of about three-quarters of the company's 400-strong workforce.

A supplier to Clarence House, 10 Downing Street and the Royal Albert Hall, the carpet-maker was founded by the Whitty family in the 1750s, and gave rise to what became known as the Axminster method of weaving.

After going out of business in the 1830s, it was subsequently revived a century later.

Joshua Dutfield, grandson of the founder of the current incarnation of Axminster, is expected to remain involved with the company following the rescue deal.

Axminster's collapse sparked an emotional response in Devon, with thousands of people signing a petition aimed at saving the company.

A spokeswoman for Axminster declined to comment ahead of the announcement. Duff & Phelps, which has been handling the administration, could not be reached for comment.

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Cable 'Wants Investigation Into HBOS Life Bans'

An investigation is to be launched into whether the three former HBOS directors blamed for the banking group's collapse can be banned as company directors for life, it has been reported.

The Business Secretary has asked his officials to see if there is enough evidence against Lord Stevenson, the former HBOS chairman, Sir James Crosby, the former chief executive, and Andy Hornby, his successor, to start a formal probe under the Company Directors Disqualification Act.

Vince Cable told The Sunday Times it was the first step in a process which could lead to the three - who have so far not faced formal sanction - being barred from acting as company directors.

The move comes in the wake of a damning report into the collapse of the bank by the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards published on Friday.

The group was given a £20.5bn bailout

It found Sir James was the "architect of the strategy that set the course for disaster" and held primary responsibility for the collapse along with former chairman Lord Stevenson and fellow chief executive Andy Hornby.

Their "toxic" misjudgments led to the bank's downfall and a £20.5bn taxpayer bailout at the height of the financial crisis and they should never be allowed to work in the financial sector again, according to the influential commission of MPs and peers.

Mr Cable told The Sunday Times: "It's quite a legalistic process. I can ask (officials) to look at whether the companies investigations branch take action.

"We do have this power which I have begun to initiate."

Sir James stepped down from his role as a member of Bridgepoint's European Advisory Board on Friday but remains chairman of the car credit company Money Barn and a senior independent director for Compass, one of the country's largest catering firms, according to company spokespeople, as well as a trustee for Cancer Research UK.

Mr Hornby's current employers, Gala Coral, has said he has their "complete backing" as chief executive.

Sir James and Lord Stevenson have so far retained their titles, though the Royal Bank of Scotland's disgraced former boss Fred Goodwin was stripped of his knighthood.

Peter Cummings is the only former HBOS director to have been penalised by the Financial Services Authority, after being fined £500,000 and banned for life from working in the City last September.

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