THE executive who oversaw the collapse of the Dunfermline Building Society has been put in charge of a university department that specialises in accountancy and risk management.
Graeme Dalziel, 59, resigned as chief executive of Dunfermline in December 2008 after presiding over the demise of Scotland's biggest building society, which was rescued by the Bank of England and Nationwide in March 2009.
He has now been named Glasgow Caledonian University's head of department for law, economics, accountancy and risk – an appointment likely to raise eyebrows among observers of the UK's financial crisis.
Dalziel and his former chairman, Jim Faulds, oversaw a huge increase in Dunfermline's exposure to commercial lending in the run-up to the crash. The commercial book expanded from £169 million in 2005 to £628m by March 2009, plus another several hundred million pounds of debts bought from American lenders.
A report in June 2009 by the House of Commons' Scottish Affairs Committee said the board's loss of control of the finances amounted to a "breach of duties" to the society's membership.
Dalziel's academic appointment, which occurred in January but was not reported at the time, comes after the former accountant moved into teaching finance, investment and risk at the university several years ago.
Willie Rennie, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said Dalziel deserved a second chance. "I criticised him at the time, but he recognises he made mistakes. He will be good at that job because he will be able to impart the experience from the lessons that he learned."
A spokesman for Glasgow Caledonian said: "[Graeme Dalziel] is a highly experienced figure with a strong track record in business."
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