Pressure intensifies on the HBOS Three

The backlash against three former HBOS executives intensified today following a damning report into the bank’s collapse.

Sir James Crosby, the group’s former chief executive, quit as an adviser to a private equity firm Bridgepoint amid calls for him to be banned from working in the City. Sir James, fellow former chief executive of HBOS Andy Hornby and past chairman Lord Stevenson came under fire in the withering report by the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards.

The commission is urging the financial services regulator to consider barring the trio from working again in the Square Mile.

Sir James, who was chief executive of HBOS from 2001 to 2006 and also former deputy chairman of the Financial Services Authority, is still a senior independent director of catering firm Compass. Mr Hornby is now chief executive of gaming group Gala Coral, which said he had its “complete backing”.

Reacting to calls for Sir James to be stripped out of his knighthood, Andrew Tyrie, the Conservative MP who chairs the commission, said: “I don’t think the public are so concerned about knighthoods, what they want is reassurance that they won’t get hit by this again.”