Press Release 21st June 2019

​Friday 21st June 2019

SME Alliance slams FCA fine over HBOS Reading as "justice denied"

​Please find below the reaction to the FCA’s decision to fine Lloyds Banking Group subsidiary Bank of Scotland £45 million for failures over the HBOS Reading scandal, Nikki Turner on behalf of SME Alliance, said:

“Justice delayed is justice denied, so for victims who lost their businesses, livelihoods and, in some cases families, because of the craven, unrestricted behaviour of HBOS bankers, action coming over a decade after the event is the ultimate insult. The only bankers banned are those who’d never work in the industry again, while their bosses get off scott free and the bank is fined what is little more than small change.

 “It is also insulting that Lloyds receives a discount for being a ‘good boy’. How does this help the victims in any way. We demand that the £45 million fine is put into a fund to help those who have suffered, many of whom have been denied compensation, or forced into accepting derisory pay-outs, by Lloyds.

“When is the FCA going to investigate, or even acknowledge, the cover up by HBOS senior executives, the lies and the obstruction going right to the top of the bank? When are they going to show they are on the side of the customer rather than the banker?”