Treasury Committee urges Lloyds to complete HBos review quicker

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Last week Rt Hon. Nicky Morgan MP, Chair of the Treasury Committee, wrote to Dame Linda Dobbs DBE to ask when her review of Lloyds’ knowledge of events in HBOS Reading will be completed, and to set out the Committee’s expectation that it will receive the full, unredacted findings of her work.

In her response, Dame Linda confirmed that Lloyds will provide the Committee with the findings of the review, but said that the report is unlikely to be finished until “the second half of next year.”

Morgan also wrote to Professor Russel Griggs OBE, appointed by Lloyds as the independent reviewer of HBOS Reading customer cases, asking to provide the Committee with information about the compensation scheme for victims.

The Committee is today publishing the responses from Dame Linda and Professor Griggs, as well as correspondence from Lloyds.

Commenting on the correspondence, Mrs Morgan said: “It’s almost a decade since Lloyds’ takeover of HBOS, nearly 18 months since the six individuals connected to the HBOS Reading fraud were convicted, and just over 14 months since Dame Linda was appointed to review HBOS Reading.

 “Yet it will be a further 12-18 months until Dame Linda’s report will be completed. Whilst the Committee welcomes Lloyds’ commitment to provide it with the report, a publication date of mid-to-late 2019 is disappointing.

“It is overwhelmingly in the public interest – especially to those who were victims of the HBOS Reading fraud – to understand how such large-scale criminal behaviour was allowed to happen, who knew about it, and when.

“Whether it’s a case of insufficient resources or competing priorities at Lloyds, they should do all they can to ensure a swift conclusion of this work.”