BOSI Pulls Out Of Ireland
Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Lloyds Banking Group has announced that it will decamp its Bank of Scotland operations in Ireland, operated under its subsidiary Bank of Scotland (Ireland) Limited (BoSI), by the end of this year, transferring existing businesses to the UK.

A statement on August 19 confirmed that following a review, the Group considers that “there [is] little opportunity for scalable growth in the future”, and that it therefore "plans to transfer BoSI’s business, pursuant to a court process, to Bank of Scotland plc". The development comes after two announcements earlier this year that it would close its retail and intermediary business, and that 90% of the bank’s commercial property assets are toxic.

Announcing the decision, Lloyds said: “Under this proposal it is envisaged that lending customers of the bank would see minimal change in how their existing accounts are managed. The Group will work with depositors at BoSI to ensure a smooth transition of their banking arrangements. It is intended that customers’ loan facilities would transfer to Bank of Scotland plc where customers would continue to repay their loans until they reach maturity or when they are paid down in full.”

Employees of the bank, Lloyds added, would be retained through an agreement between Bank of Scotland and an independent service company, which would perform various administrative functions relating to the BoSI banking business. The majority of BoSI employees would transfer via Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations to the service company, Lloyds said.

Subject to court and other approvals, the BoSI business will transfer to Bank of Scotland plc in the UK on December 31, 2010, at which time the bank will no longer be licensed in Ireland.