The architects of the banking crisis have been remarkably creative at building themselves new homes. Andy Hornby (remember HBOS?) has turned up selling painkillers at Boots. Merrill Lynch boss Bob Wigley has been helping Yell extricate itself from under a mountain of debt. Now Callum McCarthy, chairman of the Financial Services Authority during the 'light-touch' years, has offered his services to a private equity firm specialising in buying distressed banking assets.
He certainly knows where the bodies are buried. The FSA may have escaped the full public opprobium heaped on the bankers but it played a big part in letting them get away with it. JC Flowers, his new master, also knows a thing or too about bust banks. Founder Chris Flowers made his fortune picking up the pieces of the Japanese banking crash. Picking over the carcass of the European banking industry should provide rich pickings.
