Most of us will remember the furore connected with the takeover of HBOS by Lloyds TSB just about a year ago. The anger that was caused by the government brokering the marriage by allowing the competition rule book to be rewritten; by ensuring the deal was cleared by the competition authorities and using taxpayers' money to buy a 40% investment in both banks, came not only from the public but shareholders.
This week it has been reported that Lloyds are set to sell key parts of the business and are close to agreeing a deal with the European Commission which would see it sell Cheltenham & Gloucester, Intelligent Finance and its Lloyds TSB branch network here in Scotland.
The EU competition watchdog has been scrutinising Lloyds' business to ensure the bank has not gained an unfair advantage over its competitors.
This will be seen as good news by Lloyds investors as it appears likely that Lloyds will be able to escape the government's Government Asset Protection Scheme (GAPS).
Now the wheel has just about come full circle for Lloyds Banking Group. Once the sales are approved, Lloyds will be free from paying GAPS fees and the necessity of legally binding agreements with the government.
Banks which participate in the GAPS are expected to meet the highest international standards of transparency. Lloyds will no longer be required to do that even after being found guilty of breaking sanctions against countries like Iran, Libya and Sudan to the tune of a quarter of a billion euros.
Lloyds also agreed to pay US authorities 260 million euros after being accused of faking records so clients from places under sanctions could have access to the American banking system. The US Justice Department said it agreed to accept the money to drop the investigation.
So the banks and governments are still scratching each other's backs using our money. Are we being mocked here or have I missed something?
Maybe Scotland will benefit from the breakup as today it is reported that John Swinney has had talks with Archie Cane, Lloyds senior executive in Scotland, to 'discuss our mutual interest in the importance of financial services to the Scottish economy and our focus on maximising employment'.
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9 comments:
So long as banks are given guarantees by governments, there will be mutual back-scratching.
The next fight is inflation, where the government get to remove from us our wealth, via stealth tax - thanks to bankers.
The sooner we get rid of centralised banks, the better.
Then we need to ensure that investment is separated from current account.
No c*nting organisation should ever be allowed to get too big to fail.
Hi SR
This story gets more convoluted as it goes on.Just on the news (5 live) that RBS and another which I forget the name of, are to get similar treatment. Cynical me says who really will win out of this, unlikely to be the taxpayer.I would agree.
Mocked is a polite way to put it !
D.
I heard on R4 earlier tonight someone saying banks didn't want to go back to the small savings setups because there wasn't any big money in that.
How honest was that Fausty? Didn't get the bloke's name either because it was the end of his comment.
Apogee, I try to be polite but when I read about the fines I thought differently to what I typed.
Hi SR
Just occurs to me, the UK is still in recession, so the prices will be lower than if the sale was left till an upturn.
Now; what organisation is sitting there with lots of ex-bank cash in their mitts??
After all, the cash we had to replace went SOMEWHERE!!
And yes,being polite can be hard sometimes!.
D.
Apogee, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if buyer(s) are all lined up to get a cheap deal. Would it you?
Nobody in their right mind would sell a business in this economic climate would they?
The bankers screw up big time only beaten by the monumental stupidity of Jimmy The Snot Brown and his motley gang of incompetents. Remember that old music hall song? "It's the rich what gets the pleasure, the poor what get's the blame !
I remember that one OR, I hear it in my head most days. :(
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