Winckworth acts on £14bn claim by Lloyds shareholders over HBOS deal
Winckworth Sherwood is advising a group of Lloyds Banking Group shareholders on their legal action over the handling of the takeover of HBOS by Lloyds Bank TSB. The Lloyds Action Now group claim they were misled over a £25.4bn emergency Bank of England loan to HBOS in October 2008, and have sent demands for compensation to the Treasury, former Lloyds chairman Sir Victor Blank and current chief executive Eric Daniels.
June 08, 2010 at 07:45 AM
2 minute read
Winckworth Sherwood is advising a group of Lloyds Banking Group shareholders on their legal action over the handling of the takeover of HBOS by Lloyds Bank TSB.
The Lloyds Action Now group claim they were misled over a £25.4bn emergency Bank of England loan to HBOS in October 2008, and have sent demands for compensation to the Treasury, former Lloyds chairman Sir Victor Blank and current chief executive Eric Daniels.
Lloyds shareholders have lost between £1.50 and £3 per share since the HBOS deal and subsequent part-nationalisation of the bank, equating to a collective £14bn decrease in the value of their shares.
Lloyds Action Now currently comprises around 500 of Lloyds' 800,000 shareholders.
The Winckworth team is being led by litigation head Jim Rai, while the firm has instructed Nigel Jones QC and Paul Reed QC of Hardwicke Building.
Rai commented: "There can be no doubt that the fact of the £25.4bn loan 'of last resort' made by the Bank of England to keep HBOS afloat in October 2008, and before shareholders approved the merger a month later, was a misrepresentation of the facts and contrary to law. The loan was not only being kept secret for the possible advantage of the UK banking system, but so that Lloyds Bank TSB shareholders were not put off the proposed acquisition of HBOS."
Lloyds Action Now has appointed South African silk Johan du Toit SC of Selborne Chambers as counsel.
Lloyds Banking Group has stated it will launch a robust defence against the legal action.
A spokesperson commented: "We provided thorough and appropriate information to shareholders about our liquidity position and that of HBOS including the general use of Government backed liquidity schemes. We disclosed the fact of the support. We disclosed the fact that it was significant. We disclosed the fact that if such support was not available, there would be a material impact on the solvency of the business. That was, in the view of the Board, thorough and appropriate disclosure."
The Treasury and other defendants have 90 days to respond to the letter from Lloyds Action Now, with Rai estimating that the case could take some 12 to 18 months if it reaches court.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
A&O Shearman, Cleary Gottlieb Act on $700M Dunlop Tire Brand Sale to Japan's Sumitomo
Latham, Simpson Thacher and Brazilian Duo Ride Uptick in LatAm M&A
Kim & Chang, Freshfields, A&O Shearman Take Top Spots for Highest Collective Deal Value as APAC M&A Grew By Just 1% in 2024
Trending Stories
- 16-48. It’s Comp Time Again: How To Crush Your Comp Memo
- 2'Religious Discrimination'?: 4th Circuit Revives Challenge to Employer Vaccine Mandate
- 3Fight Over Amicus-Funding Disclosure Surfaces in Google Play Appeal
- 4The Power of Student Prior Knowledge in Legal Education
- 5Chicago Cubs' IP Claim to Continue Against Wrigley View Rooftop, Judge Rules
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
