Alistair Darling will today appoint a Treasury 'enforcer' to oversee the biggest and perhaps riskiest deal the government has signed: the £585bn toxic asset insurance scheme.

Stephan Wilcke, a former management consultant and private equity boss, will lead a team of up to 50 staff to enforce the insurance contract and ensure that Britain’s partnationalised banks properly manage their impaired loans.

Officials working on the insurance scheme say Wilcke’s task will be complicated, not least because the banks have trouble explaining how some of the exotic assets work. Many of the officials who agreed the loans left the banks long ago.

Financial Times