Ex-bank chief fined for fake figures

A former boss at Northern Rock, the bank which was bailed out to the tune of billions of taxpayer pounds, has been handed a fine for faking figures for mortgage arrears before the financial mess at the firm became apparent.

The Financial Services Authority fined former finance chief David Jones £320,000 after investigating manipulation of Northern Rock data just before it collapsed. Mr Jones can now no longer work in any regulated business.

The City regulator has already imposed two fines since the faked figures were uncovered. In April former Northern Rock deputy chief executive David Baker was handed a £504,000 fine and the bank's former managing credit director Richard Barclay was fined £140,000 for misreporting mortgage figures.

Before the bank had to be bailed out it was reporting false mortgage arrears and possession figures, misleading shareholders and analysts.

According to Margaret Cole, the regulator's director of enforcement and financial crime, the third fine sends "a message" to banks.

But the regulator took no action against ex-Northern Rock chief executive Adam Applegarth in relation to the faked figures because it found "no evidence to suggest" he knew anything about them.