READING BANK FRAUD TRIAL

That this House notes the guilty verdicts and sentences handed out in the HBOS Reading bank fraud trial; expresses concern at the decade it took to bring this case to trial; recognises that the individuals convicted were acting criminally on their own account and not that of HBOS or Lloyds; nevertheless draws attention to the facts brought out at the trial that detailed complaints from bank customers regarding this criminal activity were raised with senior HBOS management at board level as early as 2007 and were repeated to senior Lloyds management immediately after the takeover of HBOS; calls on Lloyds Bank to review the circumstances surrounding its handling of the Reading fraud and publish the result; and further calls on the bank to ensure that customers who were victims of the fraud receive proper compensation including recommence for consequential losses.