‘In the light of recent media coverage I have decided to issue a short statement. Just over three years ago I resigned my position as CEO of HBOS, taking with me accumulated savings from my £1.5 million a year salary and a £9 million pound pension pot, and leaving some other poor bastard to take the rap for the crap I had been warned was coming. Towards the end of my time as CEO of HBOS, as part of a wider restructuring of group functions, the Risk Function was elevated to report direct to the CEO, which is how I knew when to get out of Dodge.
A few years before this I forced our Senior Group Risk Manager, Paul Moore, to leave HBOS. This was becasue he was telling me things might get shitty, but I had not yet trousered enough money. When sacked, he complained, but we hushed this up by getting our tame auditors to whitewash a report, which was good enough to fool the FSA.
That whitewash concluded that Mr Moore’s allegations had no merit. Last autumn (on a BBC programme) and again yesterday at the Treasury Select Committee he repeated substantially the same allegations that I had sacked him for telling me about the high risks HBOS was running.
HBOS has reiterated its view that his allegations have no merit. Questions have also been raised about my relationship with Gordon Brown, and were we bum chums.
During the last two years I have devoted considerable time to producing two reports for the Government; the first on identity assurance and ID cards (published last March) and the second on mortgage finance (published last November). Both of these are full of bullshit and cockwaffle, so fulfilling the remit Gordon gave me.
I am confident that anyone who either worked with me on the reports or indeed anyone who has read them will conclude that they are the work of someone who is genuinely subservient to government.
In addition I want to emphasise that I have absolutely no political connections or affiliations other than an unnaturally close friendship with Gordon Brown. I am full of admiration for my colleagues at the FSA and the way they do fuck all for large salaries.
As a non-executive director I have an absolute responsibility to ensure that I do not make waves for Gordon Brown now all this has come on top. Therefore, whilst I am totally confident that there is no substance to any of the allegations, I nonetheless feel that the right course of action for the FSA is for me to resign from the FSA Board which I do with immediate effect.’