Paul Flowers 'coached' ahead of FSA interview "Coaching might be a strong word," said Mr Baker-Bates when asked what help he had given his one-time rival, "but I gave him tutorials to help him through his controlled function interviews [with the FSA]." Mr Baker-Bates chaired Britannia Building Society until its merger with the Co-op in 2009. He told the committee that he had been one of four candidates for the role of chairman. When asked why Mr Flowers was appointed over him, he said, to the laughter of some on the committee, "I was told afterwards he'd done very well in the psychometric tests." "He had a much better understanding than I did of the complexity and the politics of the Co-operative Group," he continued. Mr Davies said that he had been told that Mr Flowers was chosen for his leadership skills. It was very clear he was dependent on financial expertise around the board. But when you go back over history [of the Co-op Bank], there was never a chairman who had sufficient financial expertise," he continued. The two men were appointed at the behest of the FSA. The regulator told Mr Flowers on his appointment that it would be wise to recruit two deputy chairmen, one with experience in banking, the other in insurance, to reflect the bank's divisions. But Messrs Baker-Bates and Davies said repeatedly they were not made aware of this at the time. Mr Baker-Bates resigned from the bank in July 2012, while Mr Davies resigned in June 2013. Both men had been concerned about the potential problems that might have arisen from the Verde acquisition of 631 TSB branches, with Mr Baker-Bates an early opponent, threatening to resign as early as October 2011. Mr Davies said that the FSA, in the form of Andrew Bailey, did not make it clear how much extra capital the bank would need to complete the transaction. The Co-op Bank had always run on a relatively thin capital base...the capital had resided in the parent. How much capital Mr Bailey thought we needed to do this deal, I don't think was ever made clear. The TSC's hearings into the failed Project Verde deal between Lloyds and the Co-op are due to complete by the end of February, with Mr Bailey, now head of the Prudential Regulation Authority, still to appear. Speaking after the hearing, Mr Tyrie said that it was clear the Co-op Group board, rather than that of the bank, was the driving force behind the Project Verde negotiations. The two deputy-chairmen of the Co-op Bank, appointed to guide a chairman with little knowledge of finance, resigned because of their opposition to Verde. Instead of ignoring their advice, alarm bells should have sounded on the main Co-op Group board," he said. It will be important to find out why this advice was ignored and whether or not the Co-op's form of governance had anything to do with it.