An Unfair Union - Guest Post

A guest post from Brian.

"Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) is a subsidiary of the Lloyds Banking Group. Halifax is a subsidiary of Bank of Scotland. Imagine my annoyance when I, as a loyal Bank of Scotland customer of over twenty years (yes there was once a Coventry branch, opened to serve the many Scots who moved here to work in the colliery and car factories, now closed as well), discovered that the Bank of Scotland Fixed Cash ISA 2 Years pays only 3.4% interest whereas the Halifax ISA Saver Fixed 2 Years pays 3.7% interest.

The embarrassed telephone advisor explained that the two brands, ie Halifax and Bank of Scotland offered different rates. So they were competing with each other and offering a poorer service to  their Bank of Scotland customers whose brand loyalty they ignore. Meanwhile, the LloydsTSB 2 Year Fixed Cash ISA offers  rates of 3.7% for amounts over £10,000 or 3.4% for lesser amounts.

So an Englishman, a Welshman and a Scotsman go into a bank and ... only it's most definitely not a joke for the proud Scotsman and woman!

Tweet

The Lloyds TSB Story (continued)

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'.

Tweet

Well Well, Who Would Have Believed it!

One of my readers has drawn my attention to this article in the Timesonline.  It appears Lloyds TSB who now own HBOS, are offering their Irish customers mortgages at 50% of the rate for UK customers. The Halifax are now charging 2.74% for a two year fixed-rate deal to first time buyers in Dublin.  A five year fixed-rate deal would cost borrowers in its home town of Edinburgh 6.14%.  Royal Bank of Scotland is charging 2.95% for a new mortgage in Ireland; in the UK it charges 5.99% for a similar product.

British taxpayers have spent more than £60 billion bailing out RBS and Lloyds Banking Group, leaving the Westminster with a controlling stake in each.

Read the excuses from the banks here.  This has got to stop.

How much is Seb Coe paid from taxpayer's money to promote Lloyds TSB?  He never does anything for nothing, allegedly.

Tweet