Bank bosses grilled by MP committee

The three men in charge of protecting Britain's financial system face sharp questioning on the billion pound banking bailout.

Watch the report

The chancellor, the head of the Financial Services Authority and the Governor of the Bank of England received a grilling from MPs who for the first time had gathered their questions from the public.

They were challenged repeatedly over how they would control the big banks in the new economic climate. The exchanges came as Lloyds TSB revealed it hoped to reap savings of more than one-and-a-half billion pounds from its takeover of HBOS.

But what's bad for some of the banks' 140,000 employees is good news for shareholders, who are likely to receive higher dividends in the future.

In the midst of the credit crunch, the two institutions are trying to raise billions from private investors, but if they're unsuccessful, the government is poised to step in.

Send this article by email

Recipient's email address

Your name