In December the British anti-poverty charity War on Want released a report documenting the extent to which HBOS and other UK commercial banks invest in, provide banking services for and make loans to arms companies. The Money Programme found that during the investigation brokers advised the undercover researchers to lie on applications for self-certified mortgages from, among others, The Bank of Scotland, The Mortgage Business and Birmingham Midshires.
James Crosby, head of HBOS at the time, refused to be interviewed in relation to the exposed mortgage fraud. Further examples of mortgage fraud have come to light, which has seen mortgage brokers take advantage of fast track processing systems, as seen at HBOS, by entering false details, often without the applicants knowledge. The losses in his division exceeded the initial taxpayer bailout for the bank in October The scandal centred around Lyndon Scourfield's use of his position to refer companies to Quayside Corporate Services, owned and operated by David Mills, for "turnaround" services which Quayside was unqualified to provide.
Several members of Quayside's staff had criminal records for embezzlement. Customers were allegedly inappropriately pressured to take on excessive debt burdens and to make acquisitions benefiting Quayside. It consists of the following subsidiaries:. A state of the art head office was built at Trinity Road in Branches were modernised and revolutionary cash dispensers installed. In , new legislation allowed building societies to increase their range of financial services.
The Halifax steadily diversified into personal banking, stock broking, insurance and estate agency. The s saw a period of mergers and acquisitions. The most notable of these were the merger with the Leeds Permanent Building Society , and the acquisition of Clerical Medical the following year. February marked a turning point in the history of the Halifax. Its members voted overwhelmingly in favour of conversion to plc status.
The subsequent flotation on 2nd June was the largest the Stock Market had seen; some 7. A further acquisition was made in with Birmingham Midshires. Bank of Scotland was founded in , by an Act of the Scottish Parliament - making it Scotland's first and oldest bank. It charts the history of banking in Scotland, and explores the theme of money in all its shapes and forms. The history of Halifax. The Rise of industry The origins of the Halifax date back to the Industrial Revolution, when small market towns across England were transformed into manufacturing centres.
It also criticises the FSA regulators. HBOS timeline: the countdown to collapse. January Deal with Lloyds completes. Reuse this content. Unlike many British building societies which grew large by acquisitions and mergers, the Society chose an organic form of growth, and proceeded to open branches throughout the UK. By , it was the largest building society in the UK. In , it merged with Halifax Equitable Building Society , [2] then the second largest building society and was renamed Halifax Building Society.
A new head office was built at Trinity Road, Halifax in It is computerised and could originally be filled with Halon gas in the event of fire, though in the light of the environmental effects of this gas if released, it may have been replaced with other fire retardant systems.
Its importance has diminished in recent years because property data is now kept on a central database kept by HM Land Registry.
The main branch of Halifax, in Halifax. The society continued to grow in size throughout the 20th century, remaining the UK's largest building society. The deregulation of the financial services industry in the s saw the passing of the Building Societies Act which allowed societies greater financial freedoms, and diversification into other markets.
Accordingly, the Halifax acquired an estate agent to complement its mortgage business. It also expanded by offering current accounts and credit cards , traditionally services offered by commercial banks. In , it established a Spanish subsidiary, Banco Halifax Hispania , mainly serving British expatriate mortgage customers.
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