The UK Shareholders’ Association (UKSA) has long been aware of the strength of feeling among those who were Lloyds TSB shareholders at the time it acquired HBOS. Having invested in what had been a safe and even boring bank, but crucially one that provided a reliable income from dividends, there was palpable anger at the unwanted takeover that individual investors were powerless to prevent. Anger at the directors’ behaviour won’t go away and this, perhaps more than a desire for compensation, is a strongly motivating factor for litigation against them, but understanding this is not a reason for supporting such action.
Individual investors must make their own decisions, but the UK Shareholders’ Association is not in a position to express an opinion on the merits of the case. We are dedicated to strengthening the position of private investors as owners of listed UK businesses and all our efforts are directed to that end. We choose to concentrate on making things better in the future, for which there is much to do. For this reason, we are unable to offer our support for the litigation, but we certainly do not condemn it and we await the outcome with interest.
For Your Information
The earlier Lloyds Bank Action Group, managed by UKSA, has been dissolved. A small funding surplus was returned pro-rata to donors.
A new group litigation order has been granted by the High Court and there is a live claim with a deadline of 12 November 2014.
This claim is being managed by Harcus-Sinclair
UKSA is not involved with this initiative.
