HBOS Reading fraud convictions: questions remain about how banks treat small businesses

A lengthy campaign by SMEs, journalists and finally the Thames Valley Police, has seen the jailing of a banker and accomplices that were described by the sentencing judge with such terms as “utterly corrupt” and “evil”. One of the disturbing features of the case is that it was up to the victims to pursue fair-play. Where were the caretakers and what next for redress? Attention now turns to Lloyds’ “case by case basis” review, reports Neasa MacErlean.

Now that six people have been sentenced to a total of 47 years in jail over criminal activity around the HBOS ‘Impaired Assets Division’ in Reading, the spotlight falls on HBOS and Lloyds (which took over HBOS in 2008). Why did the two banks fail to prevent or remedy the lurid frauds carried out on small business customers? And what was the role of the Financial Services Authority, the Financial Ombudsman Service, the Serious Fraud Office and other authorities?