Rock finance director quits

Northern Rock's so-called "bad bank", Northern Rock Asset Management, yesterday said that finance director David Jones had quit the company with immediate effect to focus on a Financial Services Authority investigation. The watchdog last week fined and banned

Northern Rock's former deputy chief executive David Baker and Richard Barclay, former managing credit director. It follows their role in 2,000 "missing" bad mortgages which should have been recorded on the bank's books. The two were told to pay a combined £644,000.

Mr Jones worked at Northern Rock for 14 years and was deputy finance director for six years before replacing Bob Bennett as finance director in February 2007 prior to its plunge into crisis.

Hugh Graham, head of the company's treasury operation, has been made interim chief financial officer.