.svg) | |
| Industry | Finance and Insurance |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2000 |
| Fate | Acquired by Lloyds TSB |
| Headquarters | |
Key people | James Crosby & Andy Hornby (former Chief Executives) Lord Stevenson of Coddenham (Chairman) |
| Products | Financial services |
Number of employees | 72,000 |
| Parent | Lloyds Banking Group |
| Subsidiaries | Bank of Scotland plc, HBOS Australia, HBOS Insurance & Investment Group |
HBOS plc is a banking and insurance company in the United Kingdom, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lloyds Banking Group, having been taken over in January 2009. It was the holding company for Bank of Scotland plc, which operated the Bank of Scotland and Halifax brands in the UK, as well as HBOS Australia and HBOS Insurance & Investment Group Limited, the group's insurance division.
HBOS was formed by the 2001 merger of Halifax plc and the Bank of Scotland.[1] The formation of HBOS was heralded as creating a fifth force in British banking as it created a company of comparable size and stature to the established Big Four UK retail banks. It was also the UK's largest mortgage lender.[2] The HBOS Group Reorganisation Act 2006 saw the transfer of Halifax plc and Capital Bank plc to the Bank of Scotland, which had by then become a registered public limited company, Bank of Scotland plc.
Although officially HBOS was not an acronym of any specific words, it is widely presumed to stand for Halifax Bank of Scotland. The corporate headquarters of the group were located on The Mound in Edinburgh, Scotland, the former head office of the Bank of Scotland. Its operational headquarters were in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England, the former head office of Halifax.[3]
On 19 January 2009, the group was acquired by Lloyds TSB and became a subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group after both sets of shareholders approved the deal.
Lloyds Banking Group stated that the new group would continue to use The Mound as the headquarters for its Scottish operations and would continue the issue of Scottish bank notes.[4][5]
- ^ Bachelor, Lisa (4 May 2001). "HBOS: the issue explained". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 17 September 2008.
- ^ "HBOS is the largest mortgage lender in the Isles". 7 August 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2008.
- ^ "Bank of Scotland, Halifax tie knot". All Business. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 2 July 2007.
- ^ "Lloyds TSB confirms deal to take over HBOS". 18 September 2008. Archived from the original on 25 September 2008. Retrieved 18 September 2008.
- ^ "Recommended acquisition of HBOS plc by Lloyds TSB Group plc" (PDF). Lloyds TSB. 17 September 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2008. Retrieved 18 September 2008.