HBOS chief James Crosby sold shares prior to collapse Sir James was asked if he should be stripped of his knighthood like Fred Goodwin, the disgraced former chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland. The former HBOS chief said the award he received after stepping down in 2006 had been "a great honour," but added: "I am in no doubt my reputation and my achievements will never again be seen in the same way." As a final blow, Sir James was forced to admit that he would no longer be considered a "fit and proper person" under regulatory requirements. He told the Committee he had "no plans" to apply for another regulated City role but said he "wouldn't expect to get approved." He added: "I'm too closely associated with problems at HBOS to get approval." However he refused to accept he should give back a portion of his pay and bonuses. He insisted that some of the growth after the merger of Halifax and Bank of Scotland in 1999 was positive. Rory Phillips QC crushed Sir James" claims to success: "The seeds for what went wrong at HBOS were sown during your time ... [by the] plans and strategy that you made after the merger of Halifax and Bank of Scotland." He said that Sir James" successor, Andy Hornby, had just "nine months" to spot the problems. Over two and half hours, the committee quizzed Sir James over the corporate lending policies that have led to £45bn of impairments in four years. Sir James said: "With the benefit of hindsight, we would have done things differently ... things could have been done better." He said that the "core driver" came from the bank's corporate lending division and the group had been hit by the "unforeseen and totally unprecedented closure of the wholesale markets." He also admitted that he lacked specific banking experience in areas such as life assurance and said he was "always very aware of that."