The former head of Co-op Bank has told the Treasury Committee that he resigned in 2011 after his repeated warnings against the company’s disastrous bid to buy over 600 branches of Lloyds bank went ignored by the board.
Neville Richardson told the group of MPs that the deal was the "right deal at the wrong time" and put Co-op Bank at an "unacceptable risk" as the recent merger between Co-op Bank and Britannia Building Society was not yet completed.
The deal later collapsed and the Co-op Bank was found to have a capital shortfall of £1.5 billion.
Mr Richardson, who was chief executive of Britannia before it merged with Co-op Bank in 2009, added: "I had expressed my grave concerns and as it was clear to me that my experienced view was not going to be acted on, my position became untenable and we mutually agreed that I would leave.”