LONDON, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- A top British bank regulator, James Crosby, has resigned following an allegation he fired a bank risk assessor who warned HBOS it was taking too much risk.
Paul Moore, former head of regulatory risk at HBOS between 2002 and 2005, told members of the Commons' Treasury Committee Tuesday that Crosby, deputy chairman of the Financial Services Authority, had fired him when he was the chief executive officer at the bank, The Times of London reported Wednesday.
Moore said Crosby fired him directly and that his cautionary approach as the bank's risk assessor "felt a bit like being a man in a rowing boat trying to slow down an oil tanker."
He also blamed the bank for "a total failure of all key aspects of corporate governance," The Times said.
With financial systems in dire straits due to excessive bank risks, Prime Minister Gordon Brown Wednesday called Moore's claims "serious allegations."
Crosby then chose to resign, The Times reported.
