Sir James Crosby: HBOS chief savaged for his 'reckless incompetence' gives up knighthood and £175,000 of annual pension Sir James Crosby has a pension pot worth an estimated £25million or £580,000-a-year He said he was 'deeply sorry' for what happened at HBOS Bank needed a £20.5billion taxpayer-funded bailout in 2008 By Becky Barrow and James Salmon Forfeit: Sir James Crosby today offered to give up 30 per cent of his £700,000-a-year pension The disgraced boss who was the 'architect' of the collapse of Halifax owner HBOS yesterday became the first man to forfeit his knighthood for more than 60 years. In a sensational admission of guilt, Sir James Crosby said he was 'deeply sorry' for the disaster that unfolded at the banking giant after he left in 2006. It comes after a damning report by the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards last week singled him out as 'the architect of the strategy that set the course for disaster' and savaged his 'reckless incompetence' as chief executive. The 57-year-old has also offered to forfeit 30 per cent of his gold-plated pension of £580,000 a year every year until he dies. This is equal to around £175,000, which he hopes will be given to a charity or the shareholders of Lloyds - which controversially rescued HBOS in 2009 - whose nest eggs have been decimated. In a final humiliation he was last night forced to quit his £125,000-a-year job as a senior independent director of the catering giant Compass, having already lost two other major roles in the wake of the scandal. Sir James, whose knighthood was awarded under Tony Blair in 2006 for 'services to the finance industry', said he believed 'it is right that I should now ask the appropriate authorities to take the necessary steps for its removal'. Last night, there were calls for other bankers to follow his lead by either forfeiting their knighthoods or sacrificing a part of their pensions built up during their reckless leaderships. John Mann, the Labour MP who sits on the Treasury Select Committee, said the move is 'highly appropriate', adding: 'This sets the benchmark for others. At last, we have a banker who is prepared to say he got it wrong and wishes to make amends. I hope now that this is not an isolated stance and others will follow his example and give up some of the grandeurs of power and pension benefits that they have gained on the back of poor leadership of the banks. Sir James was among three HBOS chiefs who were savaged over their 'catastrophic failures of management' by the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards. 'Chastening': Sir James, pictured giving evidence to the Treasury Select Committee admitted that the Parliamentary Commission report made for 'very chastening reading' Country pile: Sir James Crosby's large home near Harrogate. He has offered to surrender 30 per cent of his £580,000-a-year pension pot He was singled out as one of the leaders who steered the bank to the brink of collapse - saddling taxpayers with a £28billion bill to bail it out. The report said the former bosses' 'high-risk' strategy, 'reckless lending' and 'deluded' leadership all contributed to the disaster - yet all three have since moved on to lucrative positions in the City. In a heartfelt statement yesterday, Sir James said the report had made 'very chastening reading'. He offered his 'sincere regret for events' and added: 'I am deeply sorry for what happened at HBOS and the ensuing consequences for former colleagues, shareholders, taxpayers and society in general.' Under investigation: Former HBOS chief executive Andy Hornby and ex-chairman Lord Stevenson who could potentially face being barred from working as company directors for life Banking disaster: Former HBOS chief executive Sir James Crosby was heavily criticised in the Parliamentary Commission last Friday A friend of Sir James said last night: 'He saw the newspapers and decided he didn't want to become part of a Fred Goodwin-style witch-hunt. 'He wanted to be able to meet friends and business acquaintances in the eye and know he'd done the right thing.' It marks a dramatic fall from grace for a man who was known as former prime minister Gordon Brown's favourite banker. Pension pot: Sir James Corsby has built up a pension pot worth an estimated £25million Renouncing a knighthood after accepting it is almost unheard of. It is thought the last time it happened was in 1948 when an Indian lawyer and politician called C P Ramaswami Iyer (pictured) renounced his following Indian independence. The year before, the Maharajah of Vizianagram had renounced his knighthood on the grounds it was not in keeping with the ideals of Republican India. In 1969 John Lennon returned an MBE he received in 1965 in protest over Britain's involvement in Biafra. If an honour is to be taken away, evidence is put to the shadowy honours Forfeiture Committee, a group of senior civil servants. Their recommendation goes via the Prime Minister to the Queen who makes her decision. A notice is then published in the London Gazette that the honour has been forfeited. The process can take weeks or months. But anyone writing directly to the Forfeiture Committee to tell them they are returning an honour is likely to see their case dealt with slightly faster, a source said. He lost his lucrative high-profile job at Bridgepoint, the private equity firm, and his trusteeship of the charity Cancer Research UK in the wake of the damning report. But he will still enjoy a pension of around £400,000 a year. David Ruffley, the Tory MP and a senior member of the Treasury committee, said Sir James's move was 'better late than never'. He said: 'Frankly, the relinquishing of 30 per cent of his pension is a highly arbitrary figure. It still sees this walking advertisement for corporate incompetence taking home over £400,000 in pension every year until he dies. Sir James's contrite behaviour is in sharp contrast to the lack of any public displays of regret by Mr Goodwin, the former chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland. He had to be stripped of his knighthood by the Queen and agreed to forfeit part of his pension only after a long and bitter campaign, although it is still worth £342,500 a year. Mr Mann said the man who replaced Sir James as HBOS chief executive in July 2006 - Andy Hornby - and its former chairman, Lord Stevenson, should be in the firing line. When Mr Hornby, now 46, left the bank in disgrace three years later, his pension was worth £240,000 a year. Pension experts said it is likely to be worth around £320,000 a year when he reaches 50 and can start claiming it. An ordinary saver would have to build up a pension pot of around £11million to generate the same pension income, according to financial advisers Hargreaves Lansdown. Mr Hornby has received the 'complete backing' of bookmaker Coral, where he receives a package of more than £500,000 as chief executive. Lord Stevenson has also received the support of bookseller Waterstones where he is an independent director.