HBOS

'HBOS plc' () is a banking and insurance group in the United Kingdom, the holding company for Halifax plc and the Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland. Officially HBOS is an initialism not overtly standing for anything, although it is widely recognised to mean Halifax Bank of Scotland. The corporate headquarters of the group are in Edinburgh, Scotland; the old office of the Bank of Scotland. Operational headquarters are based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England; the old head office of Halifax. ^[1]
The merger of the Halifax and Bank of Scotland, and 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. Since its creation it has grown to become the fourth biggest banking group in the UK by market capitalisation. It is also the UK’s largest mortgage lender. HBOS is a public limited company listed on the London Stock Exchange ()

Contents

History

Formation

HBOS Group Reorganisation Act 2006

Structure

Halifax plc

The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland

HBOS Australia

HBOS Insurance & Investment Group Limited

References

External links

History

Formation

The Bank of Scotland is the UK's oldest commercial bank, founded by an Act of the Parliament of Scotland in 1695. Halifax was founded in 1853 as the Halifax Permanent Benefit Building and Investment Society, which demutualised in 1997 to become a plc.
The merger of the Bank of Scotland and Halifax occurred during a wave of consolidation in the UK banking market which began in the late 1990s. The Bank of Scotland played a key role in the process, firstly by launching a hostile takeover bid for NatWest, although the bid failed to a rival offer from the Royal Bank of Scotland. It later investigated a merger with Abbey National, when Halifax approached with an offer to merge.
The merger created the fifth largest bank in the UK by market capitalisation, although since 2001 the bank has overtaken Lloyds TSB to become fourth largest.

HBOS Group Reorganisation Act 2006

In 2006, HBOS secured the passing of the HBOS Group Reorganisation Act 2006, a private Act of Parliament that would allow the group to operate in a more simplified structure. The Act allows HBOS to make the Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland a public limited company, Bank of Scotland plc, which will be the principal banking subsidiary of HBOS. Halifax plc will transfer to Bank of Scotland plc, although the brand name will be retained.
As of 2007, the provisions in the Act have not yet been implemented.

Structure

HBOS has four main subsidiaries:

★ Halifax plc

★ The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland

★ HBOS Australia

★ HBOS Insurance & Investment Group Limited

Halifax plc

Halifax is the group’s retail bank division that operates in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Subsidiaries and Brands include:

★ Banco Halifax Hispania

★ Bank of Scotland International

★ Birmingham Midshires

★ Intelligent Finance

★ Halifax Financial Services (Holdings) Ltd

★ Halifax Investment Fund Managers Ltd

★ Halifax Share Dealing Limited

★ Halifax Unit Trust Management Ltd

★ St. James's Place Capital plc (60% ownership)

★ St James’s Place Bank.

The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland

The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland (trading as the Bank of Scotland) is the group’s main retail bank in Scotland.
Subsidiaries and brands:

★ Sainsbury's Bank (50%)

★ Bank of Scotland Corporate

★ Bank of Scotland Investment Services

★ Bank of Scotland Private Banking

★ CAPITAL BANK plc

★ HBOS Financial Services Ltd

★ HBOS Insurance & Investment Group Ltd

★ HBOS Treasury Services plc

★ Bank of Scotland (Ireland)

★ Bank of Scotland (Netherlands)

★ Bank of Wales

HBOS Australia

HBOS Australia was formed in 2004 to consolidate the group’s holdings in Australia. It consists of the following subsidiaries:

★ Bank of Western Australia Limited

★ Capital Finance Australia Limited

★ St Andrew's Australia Pty Ltd

★ BOS International (Australia) Ltd

HBOS Insurance & Investment Group Limited

HBOS Insurance & Investment Group Limited manages the group’s insurance and investment brands in the UK and Europe. It consists of the following:

★ esure

★ First Alternative

★ Halifax General Insurance Services Ltd

★ Halifax Insurance Ireland Ltd

References

1. Bank of Scotland, Halifax tie knot

External links

★ HBOS plc website