HBOS Tries To Woe Shareholders

In a move which is designed to make it as easy as possible for shareholders to trade their rights shares in the forthcoming £4 billion fund raising, HBOS has announced plans to offer a free dealing service. The bank seem to be covering as many angles as possible to ensure that shareholders have as fewer reasons as possible not to seriously considering taking up their entitlement. The move comes hot on the heels of the Bradford and Bingley rights issue which had to be changed and just before the close of the £12 billion Royal Bank of Scotland fund raising.



We should hear an update on trading for HBOS over the next couple of weeks, something which is normally part of the rights issue correspondence when it is released to shareholders. While the situation is not necessarily make or break for the likes of HBOS and Royal Bank of Scotland, many of the smaller players in the UK banking sector will be a watching with great interest.



If investors show an appetite for the funding programs which have been announced then we could see a flood of similar issues over the next few weeks, although many are sceptical.