Lloyds shareholders in claim over HBOS
SHAREHOLDERS in state-backed bank Lloyds Banking Group have launched a £14bn claim against the government and the bank’s directors, saying they were misled into voting in favour of a takeover of rival bank HBOS.
The group has written to the Treasury, Lloyds chief executive Eric Daniels and former chairman Sir Victor Blank, stating the takeover documents did not reveal the size of the £25.4bn loan the government had made to HBOS.
The group Lloyds Action Now claims shareholders were deceived into shouldering the burden of saving HBOS, which should have fallen on taxpayers in general. As it was, the government was still forced to step in and partially nationalise the bank.