A report in The Times suggests that the European Commission may force the UK’s Lloyds Banking Group to sell all or part of its subsidiary Halifax, in compensation for the billions of pounds of state aid that has been accepted by the bank.
A final decision has yet to be made by the EU Commission but it appears that the competition commissioner Neelie Kroes has made it clear that she plans to impose tough penalties on Lloyds.
The commission has already dismissed Lloyds offer to sell off the smaller Cheltenham & Gloucester business along with limited disposals in Scotland. The bank will now hope to seek a compromise that will allow them to keep the Halifax name but sell off a significant amount of its one thousand UK branches.
Halifax is a key player in the Lloyds home loans sector as well as being one of the UK’s most well known and respected banking brands.
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