Only three Treasury staff focused on UK stability pre-Lehmans

Treasury resources were 'stretched and unprepared' for the 2008 financial crisis, according to a damning new report.

At the time the financial crisis hit the market in September 2008, the Treasury had only three staff working on the UK's financial stability, with an average age of 32, the Telegraph reports. In response, the Treasury admitted it was "stretched" and "did not see the crisis coming" in a indictment of its own operations at the time. When the crisis hit, the body upped staff numbers from three to 30, but this was still insufficient, the Treasury admitted. "We should have had five teams and 100 people," a senior official is quoted as saying in the review. Sir Nicholas Macpherson, pe...