Bankers say sorry... it's not our fault

Despite giving grovelling apologies for the failure of HBOS and RBS, the former heads of the two groups insisted they were not personally to blame.

The arrogance of the millionaire bankers was revealed as RBS announced it was axing another 2,300 staff.

In a bruising showdown in front of the Commons Treasury Select Committee, the financiers even had the nerve to complain that they had lost millions of pounds from their personal fortunes.

Sir Fred Goodwin, former chief executive of RBS and Sir Tom McKillop, the bank’s former chairman, said they were deeply sorry over the group’s decline.

But they refused to accept they could have prevented what one MP described as the “destruction of a great British bank”.

Andy Hornby, former chief executive of HBOS, appearing with his one-time chairman Lord Stevenson, also issued a profound apology for what had happened to their bank – but insisted it had largely been out of their control.

He said : “I do not feel particularly personally responsible.”

Their responses provoked anger among the MPs, who said the public were furious at the way they had behaved.

Committee chairman John McFall accused them of trying to con the public into believing they regretted their actions.

He said: “Why are you apologising if you are not personally culpable? Is it because you have been told to by your PRs?”

Mr Hornby admitted that HBOS had run into trouble because the group had been overexposed in the wholesale markets, explaining that when they collapsed the speed of the bank’s fall caught everyone by surprise.

Sir Fred also insisted that RBS had been helpless to prevent the downturn in the face of the global financial crisis.

He said: “There was a definite mood that the economy was going to slow down but no one realised the speed of the slowdown. No one saw that things could change as quickly as they did.”

Mr Hornby insisted: “I never received a penny in cash bonuses, everything was invested in shares. I have lost considerably more money in shares than I have earned.”

Committee member John Mann told him that Halifax customers would have little sympathy.

He said: “My mother told me, ‘Go to the Halifax, it is a safe building society’. But what staff are telling me now is, ‘I am so ashamed to work for the Halifax’.”

Liberal Democrat John Thurso told the bankers: “Ninety-nine per cent of my constituents would be happy if a black hole opened up and all the merchant bankers and arbitrages and credit derivative traders disappeared and we returned to a world where Captain Mainwaring ran a bank we could all trust.”

Vice-chairman Michael Fallon grilled the former RBS bosses over their disastrous takeover of Dutch bank ABN Amro, which left the group facing the biggest losses in UK corporate history.

A visibly angry Mr Fallon told him: “You were in charge of the bank. You have destroyed a great British bank – you have cost the tax payer £20billion.”

Sir Tom replied: “We did make a bad mistake in purchasing ABM Amro. At the time it did not look like that. It is easy in retrospect.”

All four admitted they had no formal banking qualifications – but insisted they were not out of their depth running banks.

Sir Fred is a chartered accountant, Sir Tom a former research chemist, Mr Hornby a former Asda executive and Lord Stevenson has chaired several private and public bodies.

After the meeting, Mr McFall said: “They gave an apology and it seemed fulsome but as the session went on, they were drawing back. If you ask me my opinion, yes, they were advised to apologise. Was there a hint of arrogance still there? Absolutely.”