fungus
July 12, 2009, 6:07pm
1
This is big news …
tribune.ie/business/news/art … from-uk-t/
Halifax set to close
Halifax set to close after direct orders from UK treasury
The move is the culmination of an extensive strategic review, dubbed Project Primrose, begun by the bank after the UK government engineered the rescue of BOSI’s Edinburgh-based parent bank, HBOS, last September by forcing it to merge with Lloyds TSB, which is now 43% state-owned.
The outcome of Project Primrose, which was discussed at a board meeting two weeks ago, and the orders coming from the UK have bitterly divided the executive committee which runs BOSI in Dublin, leading to the departure last week of head of retail banking Antoinette Dunne - considered a rising star and possible successor to chief executive Joe Higgins.
According to informed sources, two more executives are planning to depart “within weeks” over the changes. The discord became so serious last week that Lloyds dispatched UK executive Jo Dawson to Dublin on Thursday to help quell the unrest.
The bank is planning to formally announce the restructuring at the end of August as part of a larger strategic statement by Lloyds, sources said. After the changes, BOSI would comprise a “rump” bank made up of its business banking division and possibly the savings and investments side of the retail business. The property development lending business will all but disappear when the €20bn in assets transfers to the UK parent bank’s balance sheet.
This may also be relevant
sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story … qqqx=1.asp
Meanwhile, the British government has told its main financial institutions to adopt a sympathetic approach to Irish property developers and not to pursue them aggressively through the courts, under an informal accord reached between the Irish and British governments.
In return, the Department of Finance has briefed Irish institutions covered by the bank guarantee scheme not to pursue British developers on their overseas loan books. A number of Irish banks have significant interests in British commercial property.
The move is designed to give both governments room to deal with the collapse of the property market and the financial sector fallout. In Ireland, it is designed to assist operation of the National Assets Management Agency (Nama).
The agreement between the British and Irish governments was reached following negotiations between Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan and Paul Myners, the British financial services secretary. Myners flew to Dublin for talks with Lenihan last month.
During the trip, he also met Brendan McDonagh, the interim managing director of Nama.
Ozzy
July 12, 2009, 6:30pm
3
Goddamit what ever happened to Perfidious Albion?
Ozzy
July 12, 2009, 6:48pm
4
Did anyone tell Colm Meaney? I just saw the add showing on Sky 1, bit of a waste of his talents.
What are the implications of this for current account holders with the bank? Will it be a case that they must close their account by a certain date?
P.
jonny
July 12, 2009, 7:23pm
6
Hard to tell. Savings customers would have to be moved over to BOSI I would have thought. But there’s nothing to stop them closing all current accounts on a certain date.
I imagine their staff will be getting lots of difficult questions from customers until August. Can’t be pleasant to find out that you’re out of a job with a newspaper report either.
Perhaps not an identical situation, but First Active closed recently, and all accounts were simply moved to Ulster Bank.
sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/story … qqqx=1.asp
I was spitting with fury when I saw this. Our best hope of avoiding national bankruptcy was to have the foreign owned banks force realistic valuations on the banks’ follies. Instead we’ll see those values artificially propped up due to this.
First Active are still open actually.
MOD Edit: Glee breach.
jcsmith:
, under an informal accord reached between the Irish and British governments.I was spitting with fury when I saw this. Our best hope of avoiding national bankruptcy was to have the foreign owned banks force realistic valuations on the banks’ follies. Instead we’ll see those values artificially propped up due to this.
I don’t think the Government have the same influence with the Danes and the Dutch, there is still some hope that ACC and NIB will keep the pressure on.
Will this “rump” be doing anything? In particular the business banking. I’d suspect that BOSI were at least knees deep in property development (possibly waist or neck). With the local economy in for a number of crap years, lending to small/medium business is risky. I’m surprised they have the appetite. Will they continue to originate new business loans or run-off existing book?
gaius
July 13, 2009, 4:07pm
14
jcsmith:
, under an informal accord reached between the Irish and British governments.I was spitting with fury when I saw this. Our best hope of avoiding national bankruptcy was to have the foreign owned banks force realistic valuations on the banks’ follies. Instead we’ll see those values artificially propped up due to this.
I suspect that even if we valued the properties realistically, the losses on the loans would bankrupt the state anyway.
xman
July 13, 2009, 5:04pm
15
Meanwhile, the British government has told its main financial institutions to adopt a sympathetic approach to Irish property developers and not to pursue them aggressively through the courts, under an informal accord reached between the Irish and British governments.
In return, the Department of Finance has briefed Irish institutions covered by the bank guarantee scheme not to pursue British developers on their overseas loan books. A number of Irish banks have significant interests in British commercial property.
The move is designed to give both governments room to deal with the collapse of the property market and the financial sector fallout.
This really is incredible stuff.
Collusion, price fixing, unlawful state support, anti competitive behaviour - you name it.
Just as well we operate under a capitalist free market system
Maybe that’s what his ma was ringing him to tell him about?
Around the time Halifax were buying up ESB shops, the other main banks were selling branches and headquarters.
ESB must have been particularly chuffed to offload their network of retail outlets close to the peak of the boom.
Around the time Halifax were buying up ESB shops, the other main banks were selling branches and headquarters.
ESB must have been particularly chuffed to offload their network of retail outlets close to the peak of the boom.
How many ESB shops did they buy in the end? I know in Limerick they didn’t buy the ESB shop, not sure what happened it in the end, it would have been prime redevelopment land before the collapse.
