HBOS Report by FSA to be Overseen by Assessors

Independent advisers appointed by MPs will assess whether the Financial Services Authority produces a fair and accurate report into what went wrong at HBOS, according to Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the Treasury select committee

Following the lifetime ban and £500,000 fine for ex-HBOS banker Peter Cummings, the regulator will now report on problems at HBOS, which was rescued by Lloyds in September 2008 and eventually needed a £20bn taxpayer bailout.

"Work on the report should begin immediately. It must be comprehensive, covering the reasons for, and consequences of, both the Lloyds-HBOS merger and the earlier Bank of Scotland-Halifax merger [which created HBOS]," said Tyrie. "The public deserves to know exactly what happened at HBOS. The Treasury committee will ensure that this happens," Tyrie said.

The Treasury select committee will appoint independent assessors as it did ahead of the publication of the FSA report into Royal Bank of Scotland when Sir David Walker – the incoming chairman of Barclays – and lawyer Bill Knight were named "independent reviewers".

In a letter to FSA chairman Lord Turner, Tyrie said: "External advisers, appointed by the committee, should again be employed during the drafting process to provide assurance that the report is a fair and balanced reflection of the evidence."

This article was written by Jill Treanor, for The Guardian on Thursday 13th September 2012 20.21 Europe/London