[Closed] Ex bankers still coining it.......

So he was criticized but not punnished. So he took risks that backfired but didnt break the law?

Yes the banks effed up whilst trying to make money. But profit isnt a dirty word.

Agree that profit is not a dirty word but a funding and lending model that was described by the then regulatory body as 'reckless' was more than just taking a risk.
He wasn't a banker - his background was retail with Asda; that was also commented on in that he had a limited understanding of funding models and risk in the banking sector.
As Warren Buffet has said 'you only see who's swimming naked when the tide goes out'.
His legacy has cost all of us through the bailouts the gov were forced into to prevent a collapse of the financial system.
Oh well, why should he care?

profit isnt a dirty word.

I have a friend who has been fighting a uk bank since they sold him an unlawful and unethical business loan. The court made that statement, not me.
However, the bank has successfully argued that as my friend couldn't prove his business would have succeeded and survived the recession, or that another bank would not have lent a similarly inappropriate product, they are not liable for any losses. They won.
On top, my friend now pays the banks legal bill.
My friend was bankrupted, losing a £4m hotel and conference centre by the bank, and now stands to lose anything else material he owns in life.
The bank meanwhile got all but £100k of its money back, and its legal bill is many times this.
So yes, banks carry on, and couldn't give a flying f*ck.

Sounds like an RBS customer trying to deal with their distressed business unit ...........
Did the bank take possession of the assets?

In the US he would (probably) have finished up with jail sentence and definitely subjected to punitive fine.

That or become president.

Yes the bank took asset and sold.
No it wasn't RBS.

I am surprised that a company would recruit AH at an executive level but struggling to understand the rest of the OP

1. Not unusual to have heads of retail financial services coming from a retail/FMCG background. I worked with one who made his name in lingerie. It's the same basic FMCG strategic marketing skills

2. AH screwed up big time, but what laws did he break - genuine question as cant remember if any?

3. On what basis would he be fined/jailed in the US?

Not defending banks BTW, bloody Barc killed my brothers business after the crash and then had the gall to promote Jenkins to CEO. Glad karma came into effect there in the end.

No it wasn't RBS

Surely BOSIF?

@ OP

I'm not sure I follow how Hornby going to Alliance (a privately owned Swiss business) and then getting [s]the sack[/s] a mutually agreed exit or then to a business which (for corporate strategic reasons*) combined with a rival and, as part of taking on a non-board role got a package that was available to all of the senior management (as is usually the way), you think there is sone regulatory interest?

Something tells me you don't really understand this.

Don't forget, by the time he was appointed CEO at HBOS, most of the loans which killed the business had already been made.

Be angry at the barely regulated cluster **** the banking crisis was, but his skills are clearly still in demand and nothing you've posted says he's do r and thing wrong at Allianc or Ladbrokes Coral.

*let's guess: their business models have been stuffed by online betting, so it was merge or die. These deals are usually always defensive.

Who are the others?

He wasn't a banker - his background was retail with Asda; that was also commented on in that he had a limited understanding of funding models and risk in the banking sector.

Sounds like its not him you should be angry at, but the people who employed him.

I think we are simplifying the problem and blaming it on a scapegoat. Whole finance system was up the swanny, and that wasn't down to one guy, who has since gone elsewhere and got lucky.

I may not have employed him after his bank experience, but if he had a good track record before the bank, his experience may still be worthwhile. We don't sack surgeons just because one patient doesn't make it.

Have a look on YouTube for Anton Kreil and watch some of his videos - he tells you exactly what its like to work in the financial markets today and who makes the real money.

What is most shocking is that these failed businessmen, who time and time again demonstrate their complete lack of fiduciary judgement, find it so easy to flit between gigs.

Something seriously wrong with the HR departments of these supposedly top companies.

Its not HR departments but the board that would pick those senior directors, and they usually have a millions to lose if it goes wrong (which is admittedly not as bad as someone who has little to lose losing everything). Its a balance capability of new guy vs how much they support his choices, then how that fits in with how the rest of the business environment progresses against their expectations. In a lot of cases its the boards sticking its oar in to places they should let the directors do their thing that causes the big fails.

Its called, "The Premier League" syndrome

HHunters and board have a habit of recycling "Talent" from a small pool.

Hornby did indeed do a terrible job, he did not do anything illegal. I believe only 2 people went to jail in the US and one was Madoff.

There must have been 200,000 financial services job losses since 2008, at all levels and banks are closing down operations daily. Tax take from bonuses has falled from £8bn to £4.4bn as a result of lower employment levels and lower pay levels. It's wrong to imply bankers have got off "scot free" what about all those people who lied on their mortgage applications ?

The Government should have changed the law to ensure full income verification for mortgages and other loans, the bankers can't be trusted to check without legislation and some people will always lie on their applications.

HBOS were relying on an unreliable funding model before Hornby was promoted to Group CEO; he ramped up their lending significantly and when the wholesale money markets tightened HBOS did not have cash reserves to fall back on.
A supine risk committee took no action to assess/question the funding model so the internal controls/checks/balances failed.
Hornby did not break the law but neither did Peter Cummings (one of Hornby's team) who was fined £500k and banned from the financial services sector for life.
Had Hornby been fined and banned from financial services as he should have been - and as Cummings was - he would have been perceived differently by potential employers.
The impact of Hornby's decisions was widespread and, in my view, he showed a complete disregard for the consequences of his actions.
That, in my view, should be enough for any company to discount him as a credible candidate for an executive position.
I believe my understanding of the issues is as good as anyone else's who has posted about this - but that is only my opinion.
The regulatory authorities in the UK are weak and show little inclination to seek redress or rigorously apply the regulations which exist.
Time to go - off to the board room for a glass of madeira and slice of fruit cake......

I used to work for HBOS. Before it all went pear-shaped we were regularly informed through internal emails and briefings that it was all just "bad press". And in the final few months the staff were exhorted to buy into a share ownership scheme. I didn't but many did - only to see their investment completely collapse.

The guy is a fraudster, pure and simple.

I do not dispite it was horribly run, firing the head of risk (?) as he wanetd to reduce risky lending in 2006

I have had close dealings with Halifax and then HBOS throughout my career ('88 onwards) , what happened there is indeed a disgrace

HBOS was a stuffee, their problem was they didn't know it.

BOSIF?

Why were Cummings and Hornby treated differently?

away for weekend with a group including someone from L

Two points - AH does not sit on main board and there is/has been plenty of debate about reputational issues

HBOS was a stuffee, their problem was they didn't know it.

I think that's a bit harsh, they knew they where making dodgy UK mortgage loans their head of risk/underwriting told them so and was fired / managed out for it. The majority of what they bought in their off balance sheet vehicles was decent enough, they just bought far too much and it should never have been allowed to be counted as off balance sheet. A classic example of a bank far too highly leveraged via smoke and mirrors.