Sir Victor Blank surprised at demise of HBOS
While former chairman of Lloyds bank, Sir Victor Blank, ultimately lost his job due to the situation which is unravelling today, he has now expressed surprise at the pace at which the HBOS operation crumbled and the rate at which losses were accrued. For many months now we have heard rumours circulating the city that Lloyds bank may not have done as much due diligence as might be expected due in the main to the fact that HBOS was on its knees and the UK banking sector was in trouble.
However, the fact that Sir Victor Blank has today confirmed the company itself was surprised about the demise in HBOS, soon after the merger, seems to rubberstamp a feeling among some shareholders that the picture at the HBOS was possibly worse than they were led to believe. There is a growing groundswell amongst Lloyds bank shareholders that the company was pressurised in some way by the UK government to take on, at short notice, a merger with HBOS without knowing the full situation at the bank.
Even though we saw many court cases and many opinions before the merger with Lloyds bank was confirmed, there is no doubt that HBOS was on its knees and without the involvement of Lloyds bank would probably have gone under.
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