Lloyds TSB - History

History

The bank was founded in 1765 as Taylors and Lloyds in Birmingham. This private bank converted into a joint-stock company in 1865, becoming Lloyds Bank Limited in 1889. In 1995, it acquired the demutualised Cheltenham and Gloucester Building Society. The Trustee Savings Bank (TSB) was founded by the Revd. Henry Duncan of Ruthwell, Dumfriesshire, in 1810, and in 1985 the TSB Group was incorporated under the Companies Act. The modern bank was created under the aegis of its CEO from 1984 to 1997, Sir Brian Pitman, who narrowed the bank's business focus and reacted to disastrous lending to South American states by trimming its overseas businesses and seeking growth through mergers with other UK banks. Pitman unsuccessfully tried to acquire Royal Bank of Scotland in 1984, Standard Chartered Bank in 1985, Midland Bank in 1992 and Abbey National in 2001, and in 1995 merged Lloyds with TSB Group and the Cheltenham & Gloucester Building Society. Lloyds TSB commenced trading in 1998, after the statutory process of integration had been completed.

Lloyds' three Scottish branches were absorbed into TSB Scotland, which remained separate to TSB Bank in England and Wales following consolidation. TSB Northern Ireland was sold to Allied Irish Banks before the merger in 1991; the bank does not have a presence in Northern Ireland. TSB Channel Islands was integrated into TSB Bank in 1992. Lloyds Bank International merged into Lloyds Bank in 1986 since there was no longer an advantage in operating separately. The Scottish Widows Fund and Life Assurance Society were demutualised and subsequently acquired by the Group in 2000.

In October 2011, Lloyds TSB's credit rating was reduced by Moody's from Aa3 to A1. The action was taken in the light of a shift in government policy to move risk from taxpayers to creditors by reducing the level of support offered to financial institutions.