Bunhill: Hambros chaps

SPEAKING of the Bank, I see its former governor, Robin Leigh-Pemberton, now Lord Kingsdown, has been invited to join the board of Hambros by his friend Sir Chips Keswick, chairman of Hambros. Sir Chips joined the court of the Bank six months earlier.

Sir Chips's late father, Sir William, was also a part-time director of the Bank in the good old days when the court was consulted before interest rates were changed. He was at the centre of the Parker Tribunal investigation into allegations that the family firm (now called Jardine Matheson) traded on leaked information about a hike in the bank rate in 1957.

He was cleared of any impropriety, but the tribunal made the point that directors might occasionally find themselves in 'a difficult and embarrassing position'. Two years later the procedure was changed so the court could no longer fall under suspicion.