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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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British MPs Blast Bankers For 'Astonishing Mess'

Report by finance committee blames HBOS, RBS for meltdown

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(Newser) – Bankers bear the majority of blame for the global economic crisis for having made "an astonishing mess of the financial system," an investigation by the British parliament's finance committee has concluded. The Treasury Select Committee said in a report that bailed-out banks such as HBOS and Royal Bank of Scotland were "the principal authors of their own demise," and put a harsh spotlight on RBS's acquisition of ABN Amro.

RBS succeeded in winning control of the Dutch bank after a brutal months-long battle, but the purchase "only served to prove how reckless RBS's growth had become and how it had overreached itself." The chairman of the committee gave a scathing assessment of banks' behavior in the run-up to the crisis and blamed senior managers for "failing to understand the investments being made in their name."

RBS's mammoth takeover of ABN Amro came in for substantial criticism in a report by Britain's Treasury Select Committee.
RBS's mammoth takeover of ABN Amro came in for substantial criticism in a report by Britain's Treasury Select Committee.   (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
People walk past a Royal Bank of Scotland logo at the bank's offices in the City of London, Monday Feb. 23, 2009.
People walk past a Royal Bank of Scotland logo at the bank's offices in the City of London, Monday Feb. 23, 2009.   (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
The dramatic fall of RBS needed a villain, and the government found one: Sir Fred Goodwin, the former high-flying CEO who has been widely blamed for leading a disastrous takeover of ABN Amro.
The dramatic fall of RBS needed a villain, and the government found one: Sir Fred Goodwin, the former high-flying CEO who has been widely blamed for leading a disastrous takeover of ABN Amro.   (AP Photo/PA, Danny Lawson, File)
A woman walks by a branch of Royal Bank of Scotland in central London, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009.
A woman walks by a branch of Royal Bank of Scotland in central London, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009.   (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
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