Lord Green lambasted for his no-show during HSBC debate
TRADE minister Lord Green yesterday failed to appear in the House of Lords to defend himself, despite Labour successfully tabling an urgent question about his knowledge of money laundering controls during his time at the head of HSBC.
Lord Strathclyde, leader of the House, told peers that there was “no evidence” that Green was in the wrong and that he did not have to justify past business activities.
Strathclyde said the government had “every confidence” in Lord Green’s ability to do his job.
But Labour’s Baroness Royall said it was time for the minister to say “what he knew and when”.
Green was chief executive of the bank between 2003 and 2006, before taking up the role of chairman until 2010. A damning US Senate report last week presented allegations of the bank being used as a conduit for money laundering and dealings with rogue states during his period at the helm.
Lord Butler, a former non-executive director of HSBC, told the House “there is no there is no possible way” Green could be held responsible for “everything that happens in a worldwide group”.