Former boss says sorry for role in HBOS catastrophe

LONDON (Reuters) - A former chief executive of HBOS apologised for the first time on Monday for his role in the high-risk lending strategy that pushed the British bank close to collapse during the financial crisis. Knighted by the Queen in 2006 for services to the financial sector, James Crosby admitted to a committee of British members of parliament that incompetent corporate lending brought HBOS to its knees two years later. "I was horrified and deeply upset by what happened," Crosby told the joint committee of Britain's Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards. "I am apologising. ...