James Crosby, the former chief executive of HBOS, has been stripped of his knighthood following his own request following a critical report into the collapse of the Scottish bank.

The stripping of the knighthood was done at the meeting of Whitehall's Honours Forfeiture Committee when Crosby moved to render the honour. He was given the honour in 2006 for services to the finance industry in the UK. He has requested that the honour must be removed after the parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards blamed him for the collapse of the bank.

The commission said that Crosby was behind the strategy that led to the collapse of the bank under his leadership. The Scottish bank went on to receive bailout of almost £30 billion of public funds. Crosby has earlier worked as the deputy chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The Commission had said that the former HBOS chairman Lord Stevenson, and former chief executives Crosby and Andy Hornby must be banned from becoming directors of any other firm.

It is believed that James Crosby has a pension package of £20 million from the collapsed bank. Crosby has stepped down from his role at Bridge point, a private equity firm, but continues to remain director of the caterer Compass.