At the height of the banking crisis in 2008, I took a phone call from one of the people closely involved in the banks’ rescue.
He pleaded with me to opine in print that Lloyds must be allowed to merge with the beleaguered HBOS and that the government must pump taxpayer money into HBOS. My source said it would trigger an economic tsunami if the institutions were allow to fail.
When I asked for evidence, he said it was common sense and promptly rang off.
That is where, by an large, the justice system has left the Global Financial Crisis, a mega event that was stunningly seen as axiomatic, rather than as a calamity for which the main actors should have been held responsible.
I was reminded of this exchange when the news surfaced — slipped out more like, on the eve of a long holiday weekend — that City watchdogs have concluded that no prosecutions will be brought against the former bosses of HBOS over its near collapse in 2008.
You may think that 14 years is a long wait. That might tell you something about the enthusiasm of the beaks, in the form of the Bank of England and Financial Conduct Authority, or FCA, to get involved.
In fact, this inquiry took six years. It was set to conclude in 2017, having been launched in 2016, but then the authorities discovered a cache of previously unexamined material.
In all, they had to go through a further two million documents before reaching a verdict of no action against those who presided over a fast-growth strategy in which the bank lent like crazy and ran up bad debts of £45 billion before being bailed out by the taxpayer to the tune of £20bn and being taken over by Lloyds.
The truth is that the 2016 investigation only began because the Bank and FCA were forced into action. They’d previously looked at HBOS’s failings and decided in 2015 that “ultimate responsibility for the failure of HBOS rests with its board”.
Despite this stark finding, they decided against bringing prosecutions.
It was only when a separate report by Andrew Green QC, also released in 2015, found that public interest decreed actions against the bank’s ex-chiefs be reconsidered that they reluctantly began their latest scrutiny.
Mr Green has described the earlier decision not to pursue the executive board directors — including chairman Lord Stevenson, former finance chief Mike Ellis and ex-chief executive Andy Hornby — as “materially flawed”.
The Bank and FCA said: “Independent decision-makers reviewed the matters under investigation and have each determined that no enforcement action should be taken against these former HBOS senior managers. These investigations have therefore been closed.”
The 2015 report had described a boardroom that lacked banking experience and a management team that drove a culture of growth at all costs. It said the bank “failed to set an appropriate strategy and also failed to challenge a flawed business model that placed inappropriate reliance on continuous growth without due regard to the risks involved”.
However, after “rigorous and forensic investigations”, after gathering more than two million documents, interviewing former bank managers, and undertaking “substantial analysis” of the bosses’ roles and responsibilities at what was then the country’s biggest mortgage lender and savings institution, the outcome is no further action.
This means that only one HBOS executive — former head of the commercial lending arm Peter Cummings — has ever been punished over what happened. Mr Cummings was barred from working in the City again and fined £500,000 in September 2012.
The logical extension of this is to suppose that Mr Cummings acted entirely alone — which, of course, is ludicrous. Certainly, he is entitled to feel more than a little angry over his apparent scapegoating.
What was the “too big to fail” argument, so eloquently explained to me above, spilt over into “too big to jail”.
No senior banker anywhere stood trial, let alone went to prison, for bringing the world’s financial services industry to its knees, for forcing governments to mount lifeboat operations that cost several billions of pounds and for causing a global recession with the loss of untold numbers of jobs, not to mention the infliction of misery on countless people, sparking mental and stress-related health issues.
HBOS was a shocking, basket-case of a bank. As well as the growth and lending policy, its Reading branch, which specialised in the rescue of small businesses, was at the centre of an enormous fraud.
Tens of smaller business customers were ruined between 2003 and 2007 when corrupt bankers conspired with so-called turnaround consultants to loot the businesses that had been placed in the bank’s “high risk” unit.
The scheme's discovery did lead to the conviction and jailing of six people. But they were not at the top and again, there is the sense of a prevailing attitude of sweeping things under the carpet rather than pursuing the bosses.
A whistleblower, Sally Masterton, was forced out in 2015 after writing a report that was critical of the bank’s handling of the Reading affair. Lloyds eventually apologised, paid her compensation and admitted she had acted with “integrity and good faith”.
In 2012, as I detail in my new book Too Big To Jail, HSBC was fined a record $1.9bn for enabling the laundering of money by the Sinaloa Mexican drugs cartel, headed by the notorious Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
As much as $1.9bn was, it amounted to only five weeks of HSBC profits. Under the Deferred Prosecution Agreement, reached with the US Department of Justice, HSBC agreed to pay the sum and to undergo a six-year reform programme.
The HSBC bankers were pursuing a high-growth strategy — sound familiar? Warnings about what was unravelling in Mexico were simply ignored.
Make no mistake, the Americans wanted to prosecute, partly because they were acutely aware that no senior banker had been indicted over 2008. But the UK government, in the form of George Osborne, who was chancellor at the time, and the Treasury intervened, maintaining that indictments and possible convictions jeopardised the bank and with that the edifice of the banking system.
No evidence was offered for this assertion. The upshot, and this latest news from the Bank and FCA affirms this, is that bankers are somehow above and beyond. Fining them has minimal effect; what they understand and dread is the prospect of personal ruin, of prison.
To date, they have nothing to fear.
Chris Blackhurst is author of Too Big To Jail — Inside HSBC, the Mexican drug cartels and the greatest banking scandal of the century (Macmillan).
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
About RuPay
A homegrown card payment scheme launched by the National Payments Corporation of India and backed by the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank
RuPay process payments between banks and merchants for purchases made with credit or debit cards
It has grown rapidly in India and competes with global payment network firms like MasterCard and Visa.
In India, it can be used at ATMs, for online payments and variations of the card can be used to pay for bus, metro charges, road toll payments
The name blends two words rupee and payment
Some advantages of the network include lower processing fees and transaction costs
UAE v United States, T20 International Series
Both matches at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free.
1st match: Friday, 2pm
2nd match: Saturday, 2pm
UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Rameez Shahzad, Amjad Gul, CP Rizwan, Mohammed Boota, Abdul Shakoor, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Sultan Ahmed, Zahoor Khan, Amir Hayat
USA squad: Saurabh Netravalkar (captain), Jaskaran Malhotra, Elmore Hutchinson, Aaron Jones, Nosthush Kenjige, Ali Khan, Jannisar Khan, Xavier Marshall, Monank Patel, Timil Patel, Roy Silva, Jessy Singh, Steven Taylor, Hayden Walsh
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPHONE%2014%20PRO%20MAX
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
The specs
Price, base: Dh228,000 / Dh232,000 (est)
Engine: 5.7-litre Hemi V8
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 395hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque: 552Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.5L / 100km
Five healthy carbs and how to eat them
Brown rice: consume an amount that fits in the palm of your hand
Non-starchy vegetables, such as broccoli: consume raw or at low temperatures, and don’t reheat
Oatmeal: look out for pure whole oat grains or kernels, which are locally grown and packaged; avoid those that have travelled from afar
Fruit: a medium bowl a day and no more, and never fruit juices
Lentils and lentil pasta: soak these well and cook them at a low temperature; refrain from eating highly processed pasta variants
Courtesy Roma Megchiani, functional nutritionist at Dubai’s 77 Veggie Boutique
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
Section 375
Cast: Akshaye Khanna, Richa Chadha, Meera Chopra & Rahul Bhat
Director: Ajay Bahl
Producers: Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak & SCIPL
Rating: 3.5/5
FIGHT CARD
Fights start from 6pm Friday, January 31
Catchweight 82kg
Piotr Kuberski (POL) v Ahmed Saeb (IRQ)
Women’s bantamweight
Cornelia Holm (SWE) v Corinne Laframboise (CAN)
Welterweight
Omar Hussein (JOR) v Vitalii Stoian (UKR)
Welterweight
Josh Togo (LEB) v Ali Dyusenov (UZB)
Flyweight
Isaac Pimentel (BRA) v Delfin Nawen (PHI)
Catchweight 80kg
Seb Eubank (GBR) v Mohamed El Mokadem (EGY)
Lightweight
Mohammad Yahya (UAE) v Ramadan Noaman (EGY)
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) v Reydon Romero (PHI)
Welterweight
Ahmed Labban (LEB) v Juho Valamaa (FIN)
Featherweight
Elias Boudegzdame (ALG) v Austin Arnett (USA)
Super heavyweight
Roman Wehbe (LEB) v Maciej Sosnowski (POL)
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Results
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
If you go
The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Straightforward ways to reduce sugar in your family's diet
- Ban fruit juice and sodas
- Eat a hearty breakfast that contains fats and wholegrains, such as peanut butter on multigrain toast or full-fat plain yoghurt with whole fruit and nuts, to avoid the need for a 10am snack
- Give young children plain yoghurt with whole fruits mashed into it
- Reduce the number of cakes, biscuits and sweets. Reserve them for a treat
- Don’t eat dessert every day
- Make your own smoothies. Always use the whole fruit to maintain the benefit of its fibre content and don’t add any sweeteners
- Always go for natural whole foods over processed, packaged foods. Ask yourself would your grandmother have eaten it?
- Read food labels if you really do feel the need to buy processed food
- Eat everything in moderation
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Company profile
Name: Dukkantek
Started: January 2021
Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani
Based: UAE
Number of employees: 140
Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service)
Investment: $5.2 million
Funding stage: Seed round
Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office
More from Neighbourhood Watch
The specs
Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder
Power: 220 and 280 horsepower
Torque: 350 and 360Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh136,521 VAT and Dh166,464 VAT
On sale: now
India cancels school-leaving examinations
Sting & Shaggy
44/876
(Interscope)
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
