Dear prudence…

Published on 15/09/2012 00:00

I AM pleased to hear that Peter Cummings has finally been punished for his “cavalier lending style” (your report, 14 September) which helped push HBOS to the brink of collapse.

Having worked with HBOS up until 2008, I have to say that the writing had been on the wall for some time before this.

As a union rep, I had dealings with colleagues throughout the bank’s corporate division and what was often talked about during the run-up to the bank’s bail-out was a culture of corporate greed where profit was everything. Senior managers were given demanding lending targets to meet and I heard of some managers forced from above to make decisions with which they were totally uncomfortable, just to enable the division to achieve its demanding goals.

Your report mentions “associated risks” and it is true there was a high level of risk attached to some of the complex deals the bank sought to enter at that time. What I find astounding though, is that whenever I attended any corporate staff conference attended by Peter Cummings, he would speak with such authority about upholding the “pillars of the business” including Risk and People (and IT).

On reflection, it was all so ­different in my earlier days in the Bank of Scotland when Sir Bruce Pattullo was governor.

The organisation was run with prudence, moral values and ­professional ethics.

Brian Watt

Hainburn Park

Hunters Tryst

Edinburgh