Whistleblowing nearly killed Paul Moore – and it brought terrible suffering on his family. The married father-of-three was Head of Group Regulatory Risk at Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) until he was fired for flagging up top management’s dangerous sales tactics, which were a serious risk to financial stability and consumer protection.
Addiction, deep depression and suicidal tendencies followed until he publicly blew the whistle after the multi-billion-pound collapse and subsequent £20.5 billion taxpayer bailout of HBOS during the 2008 banking crisis. His “explosive” evidence to the UK House of Commons Treasury Select Committee into what happened, sent shock waves to the heart of the British Establishment and caused a media frenzy.
This is Moore’s shocking inside story of a disaster waiting to happen and his on-going battle for truth and justice.
“Even at the distance of just over a decade the story of arrogance and disregard for customers at a major bank is breathtaking. I know what it cost Paul Moore to blow the whistle on HBOS. His actions precipitated what remains to date the only clear case of a bank executive being brought to book for the behaviour that led to the crash of 2008. Paul’s account of the crisis and his own tribulations should be required reading for bank management and non-executives.”
Paul Mason, Channel 4 News, Economics Editor
“Moore’s book provides a thought-provoking insight into how greed, vanity, ego and corporate hubris can bring such devastating consequences to a major company but also to the individual who stands up to their superiors for what they believe is right, and in doing so pays a significant personal price. A must read not only for those involved in business but for anyone with an interest into the darker side of human nature!”
Michael Woodford, former Chief Executive Officer and Whistleblower, Olympus Corporation
Author biography.
Paul Russell Moore was born in Bristol, England on 30 October 1958. He was educated at Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire and studied law at Bristol University. After becoming a barrister he became the in-house lawyer in the product development department of Allied Dunbar in December 1984. He left in December 1988 to join Kleinwort Benson as its in-house lawyer but was only there until April 1989 when he was headhunted by start-up firm Ellastone. In February 1990 he moved to American Express subsidiary Acuma as General Counsel and Head of Compliance and was there until February 1994. In February 1995 Moore joined accountancy firm KPMG becoming its top-performing Partner.
Moore joined HBOS in July 2002 as Head of Risk in the Insurance and Investment Division. He was appointed to the role of Head of Group Regulatory Risk at the end of 2003. He had formal responsibility for the bank's policy and oversight of executive management's compliance with FSA regulation. It was during 2004 whilst conducting reviews of the bank’s sales culture and selling practices that Moore and his team uncovered mis-selling and other unfair customer sales tactics. However, when Moore reported these findings, as his job demanded, he was fired on 8 November 2004.
Moore announced his intention to publish a book about the HBOS whistleblowing and subsequent events called Crash Bank Wallop. The book was co-authored by Mike Haworth, edited by Guy Mankowski and published in November 2015.
Addiction, deep depression and suicidal tendencies followed until he publicly blew the whistle after the multi-billion-pound collapse and subsequent £20.5 billion taxpayer bailout of HBOS during the 2008 banking crisis. His “explosive” evidence to the UK House of Commons Treasury Select Committee into what happened, sent shock waves to the heart of the British Establishment and caused a media frenzy.
This is Moore’s shocking inside story of a disaster waiting to happen and his on-going battle for truth and justice.
“Even at the distance of just over a decade the story of arrogance and disregard for customers at a major bank is breathtaking. I know what it cost Paul Moore to blow the whistle on HBOS. His actions precipitated what remains to date the only clear case of a bank executive being brought to book for the behaviour that led to the crash of 2008. Paul’s account of the crisis and his own tribulations should be required reading for bank management and non-executives.”
Paul Mason, Channel 4 News, Economics Editor
“Moore’s book provides a thought-provoking insight into how greed, vanity, ego and corporate hubris can bring such devastating consequences to a major company but also to the individual who stands up to their superiors for what they believe is right, and in doing so pays a significant personal price. A must read not only for those involved in business but for anyone with an interest into the darker side of human nature!”
Michael Woodford, former Chief Executive Officer and Whistleblower, Olympus Corporation
Author biography.
Paul Russell Moore was born in Bristol, England on 30 October 1958. He was educated at Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire and studied law at Bristol University. After becoming a barrister he became the in-house lawyer in the product development department of Allied Dunbar in December 1984. He left in December 1988 to join Kleinwort Benson as its in-house lawyer but was only there until April 1989 when he was headhunted by start-up firm Ellastone. In February 1990 he moved to American Express subsidiary Acuma as General Counsel and Head of Compliance and was there until February 1994. In February 1995 Moore joined accountancy firm KPMG becoming its top-performing Partner.
Moore joined HBOS in July 2002 as Head of Risk in the Insurance and Investment Division. He was appointed to the role of Head of Group Regulatory Risk at the end of 2003. He had formal responsibility for the bank's policy and oversight of executive management's compliance with FSA regulation. It was during 2004 whilst conducting reviews of the bank’s sales culture and selling practices that Moore and his team uncovered mis-selling and other unfair customer sales tactics. However, when Moore reported these findings, as his job demanded, he was fired on 8 November 2004.
Moore announced his intention to publish a book about the HBOS whistleblowing and subsequent events called Crash Bank Wallop. The book was co-authored by Mike Haworth, edited by Guy Mankowski and published in November 2015.
