No better reminder than the following story that "Its not what you know in the system, its who you know"

UK Financial Watchdog (The Financial Services Authority - FSA) knew Co-op bank chairman had only been a clerk and had a criminal conviction... but rubber-stamped his appointment anyway

He did not even have the full AIB Qualification !!!!!!!

Paul Flowers's role approved by the FSA in 2010 after a 90 minute interview

Senior official of FSA says although Flowers lacked experience he gave 'cogent' answers

By James Salmon

PUBLISHED: 01:04, 8 January 2014

The appointment of Reverend Paul Flowers as Co-op Bank chairman came despite the City watchdog knowing his banking experience was limited to four years as a clerk in the 1960s, MPs were told yesterday.

Clive Adamson, who was a senior figure at the now-defunct Financial Services Authority, rubber-stamped the appointment after a 90-minute interview in 2010, even though he also knew the disgraced former Methodist minister had been convicted for gross indecency.

The senior regulator, now head of supervision at the new Financial Conduct Authority, was hauled to appear before the Treasury Select Committee yesterday.

The panel of MPs and peers is investigating the near-collapse of the so-called ‘ethical’ bank, which secured a rescue package last month to plug a £1.5billion black hole in its finances.

Flowers quit his £132,000-a-year job last summer after the shortfall was identified. But in November, footage emerged of him allegedly buying crystal meth and crack cocaine. He is now on police bail.

He has also been accused of using his work email while a Labour councillor in Bradford to organise drug-fuelled orgies with male prostitutes.

Mr Adamson said he was aware of Reverend Flowers’s spent conviction for gross indecency after he was caught performing a sex act in a public toilet in 1981, but said the nature of the conviction was deemed to be ‘not directly relevant to his ability to do the job’.

MPs also grilled Mr Adamson about why he approved the man now dubbed the ‘Crystal Methodist’ to run a bank despite knowing he lacked relevant skills.

Mr Adamson rejected accusations from committee chairman Andrew Tyrie that the appointment was ‘negligent’, saying: ‘I don’t think it was a mistake in terms of the decision I made at the time with the information I had.’

Before revelations over his private life emerged, the suspended minister admitted to the Treasury Committee in November that his only banking experience was four years as a clerk after leaving university in the late 1960s.


The Reverend’s lack of knowledge was highlighted when he was asked by MPs to estimate the size of the Co-op Bank’s balance sheet. He said it was £3billion, only to be informed that the real size was £47billion.

Mr Adamson said he knew the Reverend lacked banking experience but said he gave more ‘cogent’ answers in the 2010 interview.

Instead, he said the Reverend was appointed to bring together an ‘unruly board of 22 indididuals’ at the bank. But Mr Tyrie responded: ‘One of your solutions to taming this unruly board was putting in a financial illiterate as its chair.’


Asked by Mr Tyrie if he would approve of chair of nuclear power station who knew nothing about nuclear energy, Mr Adamson responded: 'It would depend on the circumstances.'

Mr Adamson rejected accusations from committee chairman Andrew Tyrie that the appointment was ‘negligent’. He said:

‘I don’t think it was a mistake in terms of the decision I made at the time with the information I had.’

Asked about Flowers’ past conviction, he added: ‘We regarded it, but it was from 1981 and we didn’t think that the nature of that conviction was directly relevant to his ability to do the job. We had to be very careful not to draw inferences from people’s private lives into their professional lives’.

Mr Adamson also admitted he was unaware of Flowers’ later conviction for drink driving in 1990.

'Financial illiterate': The Reverend¿s lack of knowledge was highlighted when he was asked by MPs to estimate the size of the Co-op's balance sheet. He said it was £3billion; in fact the real size was £47billion

Police have seized Reverend Flowers’ Co-op work computer and his laptop hard drive from his time as a Labour councillor in Bradford

He has been accused of using his work email to organise drugs fuelled orgies with male prostitutes.

Flowers resigned from Bradford Council in September 2011 after adult pornographic material was found on his computer.

The shoddy management of the Co-op Bank has led it to the brink.

It sealed a rescue package last month to plug a £1.5billion black hole in its finances.

The Co-op Group, the funeral services to supermarkets giant which owned the Co-op Bank, has ceded control of the lender to hedge funds.

Thousands of ordinary investors have been forced to take a haircut on their investments to help ensure the bank stays afloat.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2535616/Watchdog-knew-Co-op-bank-chief-bank-clerk-criminal-conviction-rubber-stamped-appointment-anyway.html#ixzz2q2KE3lT1