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Lloyds TSB takeover offer for HBOS is best, says union
THE main union representing HBOS workers has given its backing to the Lloyds TSB takeover.
Accord made its judgment after a detailed study into the Office of Fair Trading Report, which looked into the proposed takeover and believed HBOS risked being sold off piecemeal if the deal failed.
Today Lloyds TSB holds its annual meeting in Glasgow and will be asking its shareholders to back the takeover.
Ged Nichols, general secretary of Accord, said the union believed HBOS could not survive independently and a takeover was the best way forward in the absence of any other serious bid for the bank.
"All the evidence suggests the only way forward for HBOS is the takeover," he said.
"Because of the bank's reliance on the wholesale market for funding and its exposure to the UK housing and commercial property sectors, we do not believe HBOS could have a secure and sustainable future on its own.
"Accord members employed by HBOS wish this was not the case, but there is no merit in avoiding reality."
If the takeover did not proceed, HBOS faced increasing its capitalisation from public funds and then the Government would become a majority shareholder.
"This would mean HBOS would be subject to European Union competition rules – like Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley – which would reduce its ability to compete for new business and lead to a further withdrawal from the mortgage and loans market," said Mr Nichols.
"Neither of which is in the interest of shareholders or HBOS customers, nor in the wider public interest.
"The likely outcome would be that HBOS would have to shrink its operations and it could be sold off piecemeal."
Accord said the new owners would have a responsibility to ensure unnecessary job losses did not occur and the union had put forward proposals to protect its members.
The Lloyds TSB Group Union was today lobbying shareholders in support of avoiding large-scale compulsory redundancies.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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