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By Steve Slater
LONDON, April 12 (Reuters) - Say sorry, give back some ofthe money and become an adviser. Playing cricket and keeping alow profile also seem to help.
These appear to be the best routes to rehabilitation or atleast a more peaceful life for bankers in Britain blamed andshamed for bringing their companies to their knees.
Matt Ridley, disgraced in 2007 as the former chairman ofcollapsed bank Northern Rock, has returned to a successfulcareer as a science writer.
In his 2010 book "The Rational Optimist", Ridley argued thatby working together humans are wealthier, healthier, happier andmore peaceful than ever before.
That did not appear to be the case in October 2007, whenRidley, now 55, turned his back on finance after Northern Rockneeded emergency funds, resigning three days after a humiliatinggrilling by members of parliament who exposed his lack ofbanking knowledge.
Even though he had sat on Northern Rock's board for 13years, following his father, the aristocratic Viscount Ridleywas better known as an author whose books have sold in theirhundreds of thousands.
It is not proving so easy for others to shake off their pastin the banking crisis, however, especially given the level ofpublic distaste for a profession widely held to be guilty ofbadly damaging the economy and continuing to act withunwarranted arrogance.
Former HBOS chief executive James Crosby this week gave uphis knighthood -- awarded for services to the financial industry-- and nearly a third of his pension after a scathing reportfrom a parliamentary committee that denounced the bank's formerbosses for a "colossal failure" of management.
Politicians have called for more disgraced bankers to followCrosby's example and hand back some of their pensions, or to bebanned from ever working in financial services again.
Andy Hornby, who replaced Crosby as HBOS chief executive in2006 and has a pension from the bank worth 240,000 pounds($370,000) a year when he retires, returned to his roots in theretail sector after the collapse of HBOS.
He has run two major companies, both owned by private equityfirms, which typically attract less attention, and is currently chief executive of bookmaking chain Coral, which this weekbacked him and said he is doing a good job.
Dennis Stevenson, the former HBOS chairman also blamed forthe bank's demise, was made a life peer in 1999. He can fallback on his duties in Britain's upper chamber of parliament, theHouse of Lords.
The bosses of other British banks that hit trouble in 2007and 2008 have had mixed fortunes, but almost all have kept a lowprofile.
Former bankers contacted by Reuters for this article refusedto speak on the record, indicating perhaps a recognition thatrehabilitation may require a period of silence on their part.
VILLAGE CRICKET
Playing village cricket was a release for Adam Applegarthwhen he was vilified as the architect of Northern Rock'sdisastrous lending binge and collapse.
Applegarth was hired as an adviser by U.S. private equityfirm Apollo Management in 2009. He set up a property managementbusiness near his home in Newcastle, northern England, accordingto media reports at the time.
Former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive FredGoodwin is also rarely seen after becoming the lightning rod for"banker bashing" after walking away with a big pension. While hewas in exile in France, his Edinburgh home was vandalized.
In 2009 Goodwin agreed to cut his pension to 342,500 poundsa year from more than 700,000 pounds, but that did little totake the sting from criticism and in January last year Goodwinwas stripped of his knighthood, which had been awarded forservices to banking.
Architecture firm RMJM appointed Goodwin an adviser in 2010,but politicians urged public bodies to shun the firm.
Tom McKillop, the former boss of AstraZeneca, waschairman of RBS when the bank got into trouble and was alsoforced to step down as a director of BP as criticismbuilt that he was a scientist with no banking qualifications andhad not stood up to Goodwin.
Goodwin and McKillop show another risk former executivesface -- they were last week sued by shareholders for losses theinvestors claim they incurred when RBS needed rescuing.
Johnny Cameron, RBS's former investment banking chief, wasbanned in May 2010 by the financial regulator from taking asignificant job in the City, but later that year he was allowedto take on a part-time advisory role at corporate financeboutique Gleacher Shacklock. Cameron said his ban was"appropriate" for his role in RBS's crisis.
CONTACTS AND EXPERIENCE
Eric Daniels, who stepped down as chief executive of LloydsBanking Group in 2011, has also gone down the adviserroute, taking on roles with buyout group CVC Capital Partnersand investment banking boutique StormHarbour.
Firms says former executives can offer contacts andexperience and are free from management responsibilities.
Lloyds has been urged to claw back some of Daniels' bonusesamid mounting losses related to his takeover of HBOS in 2009 andcompensation for customers mis-sold insurance in the past.
Politicians last year said former chairman Victor Blankshould be stripped of his knighthood. But Blank's honour wasawarded in 1999, long before his period as Lloyds chairmanbetween 2006 and 2009.
Blank is the patron of numerous charities and has said thatin order to rebuild trust the financial sector needs to givemore. The highlight of his fundraising is an annual cricketmatch at his Oxfordshire manor house that is estimated to raise250,000 pounds a year.
Among senior executives at smaller lenders Bradford &Bingley (B&B) and Alliance & Leicester (A&L) in the run up totheir problems in 2008, former B&B CEO Steven Crawshaw becamechairman of the advisory board of Bradford University School ofManagement and A&L CEO David Bennett is chairman of HomeserveMembership Ltd, part of British home emergency services firmHomeserve.
One man has found work clearing up the mess. Richard Pym,who left A&L in July 2007 after five years as chief executive,is now chairman of UK Asset Resolution, the state's holdingcompany running down the loans of Northern Rock and Bradford &Bingley.
A former banker, who declined to be named, said putting allthe blame on individuals missed the bigger picture.
"There's still too much attempt to believe it was all downto individual wrongdoing ... as opposed to systemic mispricingof money and risk," he said.
Others disagree. Members of the parliamentary commissionwhich looked into the demise of HBOS said this week thatregulators must impose tougher sanctions on those who run failedbanks, making them personally responsible for their actions.
