05 January 2009
The HBOS Pension Fund trustees are threatening to block the
proposed merger with Lloyds TSB. They are asking for protection to
be put into place for the final salary scheme's members.
Seven of the nine trustees are due to meet today to vote on
whether to launch a legal challenge to block the merger, which will
take place via a Scheme of Arrangement expected to be approved by
the High Court on 12 January. The trustees want safeguards 80,000
members of the scheme.
Roger Boyes, acting chairman of the trustees, commented: "What
we want Lloyds to do is give us some comfort. That is the issue. We
want some underpinning comfort for the scheme's members that they
will get their pensions."
Shareholders have already voted in favour of the merger. Should
the merger go ahead, it will create a new banking giant called
Lloyds Banking Group, which will comprise almost 150,000 staff and
3,000 branches.
