Lloyds Bank shareholders say it ‘mugged’ them into accepting ‘catastrophic’ HBOS deal
London — Lloyds Banking Group mugged shareholders into agreeing to the "catastrophic" HBOS deal struck at the height of the global financial crisis, a lawyer representing thousands of investors suing the bank said on the first day of a London trial. About 6,000 retail and institutional investors are suing Lloyds for £600m, in a case that will revisit a turbulent period in the bank’s 252-year history. They claim Lloyds and its executives deliberately misled them to win approval for the deal by not revealing the bank’s true financial position. Former CEO, Eric Daniels, and former chairman, Victor Blank, are among senior bankers who will testify at the trial. Senior executives "pursued a dangerous and value-destroying strategy" to push the deal through, Richard Hill, the claimants’ lawyer, said in court on Wednesday, and that they "withheld or misrepresented" vital information. The case is the second shareholder lawsuit in London courts this year relating to the financial crisis, which...
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