Hector Sants, chief executive of the FSA is not quite Alan Sugar, but the following was dispatched to staff at the British regulator on Wednesday:
It is with regret I announce that Clive Briault is leaving the FSA by mutual agreement at the end of April. Clive has been an outstanding colleague who has contributed much to the organisation in his time at the FSA and before that with the Bank of England. I am sure you join me in wishing him all the best for the future.
Which we read as: “It was him or me. This is an act of self defence.”
Briault, the FSA’s managing director in charge of retail finance who has been with the regulator for a decade, is taking the rap for Northern Rock.
We wonder who will be making a similar sacrifice at the other two legs of the Tripartite stool, namely the Treasury and the Bank of England.