LLOYDS MUST BE HONEST OVER FUTURE.

LLOYDS MUST BE HONEST OVER FUTURE.

LIVINGSTON MSP CONCERN OVER “IF “ FUTURE,

SNP Treasury Spokesman Stewart Hosie MP has called on Lloyds Banking Group
to be honest over the European Commission’s instruction that the group
needs to be broken up.

Mr Hosie’s comments follow a war of words between European Commissioner
Neelie Kroes and Lloyds Banking Group with Lloyds reportedly refusing to
accept Ms Kroes’s insistence that the group must either repay the aid it
received from the UK Government or split itself up.

The row over a future sell off of parts of Lloyds Group comes as
Livingston MSP Angela Constance continued to press Lloyds and Chancellor
Alastair Darling to either commit to the future of Intelligent Finance or
to put the bank up for sale as a profitable concern.

Commenting on the row between Lloyds and the European Commission Mr Hosie
said;

“Lloyds must be honest with the Commission, customers and employees over
the future of all parts of the banking group.

“Competition rules may have been broken once for the merger with HBOS –
they will not be suspended forever.

“This is exactly the kind of situation those opposed to this botch job
merger predicted and I will be seeking clarification from Lloyds, the
Commission and the Treasury on the future position of Lloyds Banking Group
and all it's parts.”

Livingston MSP Angela Constance, who last week met with Lloyds Group to
raise her concerns over their plans for the future of the Intelligent
Finance online bank based in the constituency added;

“Instead of splitting up and selling parts of Lloyds Banking Group my fear
is that Lloyds will simply shut more and more of it down.

“With the decision to end the sale of IF’s innovative offset mortgages
Lloyds appear to be deliberately running down this Scottish success story.

“Lloyds have so far failed to give me any commitment to maintaining IF in
the future.

"Intelligent Finance is a Scottish success story and there was a huge
investment in a state of the art site in Livingston. If Lloyds plan
cutbacks or closures then I would rather see the business sold as a
successful going concern. There is a real opportunity to develop the
business, build on success and protect local jobs.”