Private bankers have expressed dismay over David Ross' failure to disclose the way he had secured personal debt on his stake in mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse. The most surprising thing, they say, is not that he chose to behave in such a way, but that his lenders let him get away with it at all.

Even if Ross had been less-than-straightforward with his lenders it is hard to understand why his lenders should allowed an obvious mistake like this to slip through their net.