Halifax closing in Ireland!!!!!!!

[adamirer]

THE Halifax Bank in Ireland is set to close its retail division following an instruction from the UK Treasury to repatriate assets back to the UK.

The 'Sunday Tribune' reported that Bank of Scotland Ireland is preparing to shut the Halifax starting in September following an instruction from the UK Treasury to cease lending here and repatriate £20bn of the £35bn in Irish assets.

It said the move was the culmination of an extensive review, dubbed 'Project Primrose', which started after the bank was forced into a merger with Lloyds TSB, in which the UK government now owns 43pc.

The closure may be announced at the end of August, the newspaper said.

Lloyds will keep its business banking division here, as well as the savings and investments side of the retail business. The property lending business will all but disappear when £20bn in assets is transferred to the UK parent, the 'Tribune' said.


Delinquent

The move comes against a deteriorating lending environment in Ireland, with the rating agency Standard & Poor's reporting that nearly 4pc of all mortgages are delinquent, or in arrears for more than 30 days.

The number of borrowers in arrears for more than 90 days has almost doubled in the last year, the report added.

Standard & Poor's said Irish residential mortgage-backed securities transactions are experiencing the most testing economic environment since the inception of that market.

"The Irish economy is deep in recession and delinquencies have risen," the agency said, adding that while defaults are rising, the number of repossessions reported to date has been relatively low, and losses are currently negligible.

"We understand that the legal system is generally considered to be 'borrower-friendly', it said, adding that the introduction of schemes such as the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears, which prevents lenders from entering court proceedings until at least six months after arrears first arise, has slowed the pace of repossessions.

______________________________________

My tracker mortgage is with Halifax, so i don't like the sound of this. The introduction of BoScotland /Halifax into this market had a great effect on competition in the Irish marketplace some years ago. Their switcher tracker of .45% on ECB for first 2 years was hugely popular, many of whom are now on a 1% tracker now.

The closure of this bank is a big blow - it'll be interesting to see how the others react to it, and what happens to current business. Also, Halifax bought the old ESB premises from ESB around 3-4 years ago, for their branches.. more unemployed???

[patslatt]

THE Halifax Bank in Ireland is set to close its retail division following an instruction from the UK Treasury to repatriate assets back to the UK.

The 'Sunday Tribune' reported that Bank of Scotland Ireland is preparing to shut the Halifax starting in September following an instruction from the UK Treasury to cease lending here and repatriate £20bn of the £35bn in Irish assets.

It said the move was the culmination of an extensive review, dubbed 'Project Primrose', which started after the bank was forced into a merger with Lloyds TSB, in which the UK government now owns 43pc.

The closure may be announced at the end of August, the newspaper said.

Lloyds will keep its business banking division here, as well as the savings and investments side of the retail business. The property lending business will all but disappear when £20bn in assets is transferred to the UK parent, the 'Tribune' said.


Delinquent

The move comes against a deteriorating lending environment in Ireland, with the rating agency Standard & Poor's reporting that nearly 4pc of all mortgages are delinquent, or in arrears for more than 30 days.

The number of borrowers in arrears for more than 90 days has almost doubled in the last year, the report added.

Standard & Poor's said Irish residential mortgage-backed securities transactions are experiencing the most testing economic environment since the inception of that market.

"The Irish economy is deep in recession and delinquencies have risen," the agency said, adding that while defaults are rising, the number of repossessions reported to date has been relatively low, and losses are currently negligible.

"We understand that the legal system is generally considered to be 'borrower-friendly', it said, adding that the introduction of schemes such as the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears, which prevents lenders from entering court proceedings until at least six months after arrears first arise, has slowed the pace of repossessions.

______________________________________

My tracker mortgage is with Halifax, so i don't like the sound of this. The introduction of BoScotland /Halifax into this market had a great effect on competition in the Irish marketplace some years ago. Their switcher tracker of .45% on ECB for first 2 years was hugely popular, many of whom are now on a 1% tracker now.

The closure of this bank is a big blow - it'll be interesting to see how the others react to it, and what happens to current business. Also, Halifax bought the old ESB premises from ESB around 3-4 years ago, for their branches.. more unemployed???

Maybe another bank will buy the business?

[Aindriu]

If this is true, it makes a mockery of their current ad campaign with Colm Meaney.

[locke]

So what happens to people who have mortgages with them?

Do they sell the business (assuming it still has some value)?

Do they sell the loan book? I wouldn't like to try to be placing a value on it.

[Dunny]

Hmmm, very interestimg.

I used to work for Bank of Scotland (Ireland) some years ago. Their matra was always "4x9" i.e. 4th largest bank by 2009. Now the recession ********************ed that plan up. They made a serious fortune from the purchase of the ESB Loan Book too.

[Factorem]

How is Anglo Irish Bank still open?

[Twin Towers]

Expected to close in September.

How can people administer their accounts if the branches are closed? will the accounts have to be closed or will business be transferred to another bank? And what if you have an outstanding amount with Halifax visa?

[Keith-M]

I'm wondering if I should start running up my credit card bill ;-)

[oceanclub]

Perhaps I'm a little naive, but I would have thought there were government restrictions in place that a deposit bank cannot simply shut up shop when it suits them, leaving their customers in the lurch.

As I said, perhaps I'm a little naive.

[Watcher1]

I too have a tracker with Halifax. How is this going to work if another bank does not buy the loan book? I'm not sure they will have too many buyers because the mantra all along is that ECB +1% is loss making. I reckon the vast majority of Halifax loan book is ECB +1%.

As for the question on the continuation of business for credit card and savings, I presume they would continue as an internat banking offer, or perhaps this business could be fort sale, although the report says that business will continue under the brand.