Ex-HBOS chief secures £60,000 per month consultancy role

by Gill Montia

Story link: Ex-HBOS chief secures £60,000 per month consultancy role

One time chief executive of HBOS, Andy Hornby, will be employed as a consultant to the Lloyds Banking Group that is to be formed out of the merger of HBOS and Lloyds TSB.

The role will be remunerated by a £60,000 a month fee and the contract is for an undefined period, once the takeover is complete.

The news comes days after Lloyds TSB increased its cost saving target for the merger to £1.5 billion and analysts estimated that job cuts could reach 30,000.

Mr Hornby and HBOS chairman, Dennis Stevenson, tendered their resignations when the bank was forced into a Government-brokered deal with Lloyds TSB during the frantic October days that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers and almost saw a meltdown of the UK banking sector.

The merger involves a £17 billion fundraising that could leave the UK taxpayer with a 43% stake in the combined banks.

HBOS input on the new board, announced last week, is limited to the bank’s company secretary, Harry Baines, and this may explain the need for Mr Hornby’s consultancy role during the integration process.

However, the appointment is likely to enrage employees, shareholders and taxpayers, who may conclude that the Government’s pledge to reform a banking culture that rewards failure is worthless.