“Banks – a confidence trick that works… most of the time” – at the Weekened of Mistakes in Hay-on-Wye
This was one of three sessions that I did on banking and financial “errors” at the Library of Mistakes’ inaugural […]
HBOS
What the £1bn HBOS fraud tells us about the state of British banking
This is a fully-revised, updated and extended version of the article ‘Mafioso bankers and my part in their downfall‘ which
Mafioso bankers and my part in their downfall
ON Thursday, two bankers and four consultants were jailed for their part in a £245 million loans scandal which caused
Top economist claims Edinburgh will never recover from banking collapse fall-out
EDINBURGH will never recover from the failure of its two largest banks at the height of the banking crisis in
Lloyds sues RBS for £420m over ‘misleading’ rights issue
In an unprecedented clash between two of the UK’s biggest banks, Lloyds Banking Group is suing government owned Royal Bank
BBC South investigates: Lloyds Banking Group hopes if it stonewalls long enough, customers fleeced by Bank of Scotland will give up
Here is Nick Wallis and Laura Ansell’s investigative documentary for BBC South about Lloyds Banking Group’s shocking treatment of customers
EADS chief executive Robin Southwell drawn into a hornet’s nest
In June and August 2010, I reported on the business relationship between the EADS (UK) chief executive Robin Southwell (pictured
The Business Herald 2013 Review – Professional Services
Two of the biggest developments in Scottish professional services in the past year came when global firms set up large
Gavin Masterton and the riddle of Charlotte 18
Charlotte Eighteen, a shadowy company based in the tax secrecy jurisdiction of the British Virgin Islands, remains the subject of
Highland result demonstrates RBS bankers are no longer above the law
Royal Bank of Scotland accused of defeating opponents in court through fraud. Finally, a sign that banks and bankers are
Salmond’s £1.7m bung to KPMG is a kick in the teeth for taxpayers
The government of first minister Alex Salmond yesterday gave a £1.7 million Regional Selective Assistance grant to the ‘Big Four’
Has HBOS’s Peter Cummings lost touch with reality?
Peter Cummings continued to buy into failing property companies at full valuations five months before HBOS collapsed and seems rather
Why ex-HBOS chief executive James Crosby deserves no mercy
In a comment piece in Saturday’s Times, financial editor Patrick Hosking gave ten reasons why the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards must
Sir Ron Garrick fiddled while HBOS burned
It’s not often that I’m gob-smacked by the pronouncements of former directors of failed British banks. But, I was genuinely
Andy Hornby and Peter Cummings “engaged in boardroom brawl” as they led HBOS to disaster
My review of Ray Perman’s Hubris was published in the Scottish Review of Books at the weekend. The full review
Britain’s corporate failures invite a governance revolution
Why “corporate governance” failed The bigwigs of the City of London, corporate governance ‘gurus’ in asset-management firms and leading figures
Book review: Going for broke
It was intended as a memorial to the Scots who died in the Napoleonic Wars. But it wasn’t long before
Idea that banks can be trusted to police themselves is one of most dangerous of modern times
On 1 January 2008, some bright sparks at the FSA decided it was appropriate to grant Advanced Internal Ratings Based
Simon Carswell: Inside Ireland’s, and probably the world’s, worst bank
I’m halfway through Simon Carswell’s Anglo Republic: Inside the bank that broke Ireland, and it’s a gripping read. In the
McColl and Hunter attack FSA’s ‘disgraceful’ treatment of HBOS’s Peter Cummings
High-profile figures say banker Peter Cummings has been made a scapegoat Jim McColl, Scotland’s highest-profile business figure, has added his
Peter Cummings: The FSA’s approach is ‘tokenism at its most sinister’
Here’s a statement issued this afternoon by the former HBOS director Peter Cummings, in the wake of today’s 92-page Final Notice from