Page 227 - Bank Case Studies
P. 227
“Another committee member, Jesse Norman,
chimed in. “Just to be clear: Andrew Large, banker
for 20 years, chairman of the Securities Investment
Board, member of the management board of the
Swiss Bank Corporation, deputy chairman of
Barclays Bank, Bank of England monetary policy
committee member; you would expect him to
know what a profit centre and a cost centre of a
bank was, right?”
“Yes,” Sach said, he would. But he maintained that
Large’s description of his unit as a profit centre
was “not logical”.
Norman pressed him further. “You entirely
discount the possibility that he might understand
the true function of business better than you are
prepared to admit?”
“Yes,” the restructuring boss maintained. “I am not
trying to cover anything up.”
"It does not contribute to the bank’s profits at all.
Our main objective is to restore the customers’
health and strength" (23,20,25)
Sach and Sullivan repeated their insistence that GRG was
not a profit centre no fewer than 27 times during the
hearing.
However, forced RBS was forced into a humiliating
climbdown. Its chairman, Sir Philip Hampton, wrote to Tyrie,
admitting that:
