The Bank of England has fined former Co-operative Bank executives for pushing the bank near to collapse two years ago.

The BoE's Prudential Regulation Authority fined Barry Tootell, the bank's former chief executive and Keith Alderson, the former managing director of the Co-op Bank’s Corporate and Business Banking Division.

Tootell was slapped with a £173,802 ($249,000) fine and Alderson has to pay £88,890 ($130,000).

They were also banned from taking a senior position in another bank for the rest of their lives.

The bank almost crumbled two years ago as it revealed a £1.5 billion ($2.3 billion) black hole in its balance sheet.

Andrew Bailey, the PRA's chief executive said: “Banks that are not well governed have the potential to pose a threat to UK financial stability. The actions of Mr Tootell and Mr Alderson posed an unacceptable threat to the safety and soundness of the Co-op Bank which is why we have decided a prohibition is appropriate in these cases."

Tootell was blamed for the high-risk culture of the Co-op.

He was "was centrally involved in a culture within the Co-op Bank which encouraged prioritising the short-term financial position of the firm at the cost of taking prudent and sustainable actions to secure the firm’s longer-term capital position," according to the BoE statement.

Alderson didn't do enough to highlight the risks his division was taking.

He "did not escalate specific risks inherent in the Britannia Corporate Loan Book sufficiently clearly to Co-op Bank’s formal risk management processes," the BoE said.



"As a result, the risks could not properly be considered, and nor could the appropriate actions be taken to mitigate them," according to the statement.

Last year the BOE wanted to hand Co-op a huge £120 million ($187 million) fine for getting into the mess, but the bank was too weak to pay it.