Two board members at HSBC’s UK unit are set to leave the bank in protest over new regulations that could make executives criminally liable if a bank fails.
Alan Thomson, a member of the audit and risk committees of HSBC Bank, has tendered his resignation from the bank and John Trueman, the deputy chairman of HSBC Bank, is on the verge of resigning, Sky News reported.
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Their departures are said to be linked to proposals by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), the Bank of England’s regulatory division, to make senior bankers more accountable.
HSBC is expected to file a notice about Thomson’s resignation with Companies House this month, with Trueman’s following later if he confirms he is leaving.
The Bank of England has launched a consultation on tougher oversight of top bankers, known as the Senior Persons Regime, as called for by a Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards.
The new regime includes powers to jail bankers for up to seven years for reckless misconduct. Top bankers would have to prove to regulators they were not aware of or had challenged dubious behaviour at the time.
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By GlobalDataThe rules are part of global regulators’ attempts to hit bankers’ wallets if their risk-taking leads to large losses to avert future crises.
