Notice to all wholesale depositors
Heritable Bank Plc has gone into administration. As a wholesale depositor you will not be able to withdraw funds from your account and you will be treated as an unsecured creditor of Heritable Bank Plc in the administration.
What has happened?
Broadly, Heritable Bank Plc has been split into two. Retail savings have been separated from the remainder of Heritable Bank Plc’s business and have been transferred to ING Direct, a wholly owned subsidiary of ING Group, which will operate the accounts from its UK branch All wholesale deposits, mortgages and loans remain with Heritable Bank Plc. They have not been transferred out.
On 7 October 2008 the Court of Session made an Administration Order in relation to Heritable Bank Plc. Tom Burton, Alan Bloom, Maggie Mills and Patrick Brazzill of Ernst & Young LLP were appointed as Joint Administrators of Heritable Bank Plc.
As Heritable Bank Plc is now in administration, its business is being run by the Joint Administrators. This does not mean that Heritable Bank Plc’s remaining business will be immediately closed down or sold.
Why was administration necessary?
The administration was necessary because of Heritable Bank Plc’s financial position in order to ensure that Heritable Bank Plc could continue to operate. It was also necessary in order to maintain the stability of the UK financial system.
Whilst in Administration, Heritable will continue to manage its current loan book and the Administrators will be seeking to find purchasers for and will continue to manage the remainder of the Heritable’s business and loan book to maximise recovery for creditors.
Wholesale deposits
These deposits have now been frozen with immediate effect and no withdrawals will be accepted.
All holders of wholesale deposits will rank as non preferential claims against the Company and will be held on file and dealt with in accordance with the Insolvency Act 1986. These claims will be reviewed in due course and any subsequent payments will be distributed by the Joint Administrators or a subsequent liquidator.
We will continue to keep you updated with developments in respect of the long term plans for Heritable Bank Plc and notify you immediately if any changes are proposed to be made which will affect your current position.
Landsbanki Guarantee
Creditors of Heritable are reminded that they should consider the action they need to take to make a claim and protect their rights against Landsbanki under the guarantee given by Landsbanki in respect of the obligations of Heritable. It appears that creditors can register their claim by logging on to the Landsbanki website and entering their details in the manner described on the website. Please note that neither Heritable nor the administrators are providing any advice or assuming any responsibility to creditors in connection with claims under the guarantee and creditors should consider taking their own advice, and such action, as they consider to be necessary. Subject to this important point, the administrators note that they are having further discussions with the advisers to Landsbanki's Resolution Committee to explore what steps can be taken to streamline the process for the submission of claims under the guarantee and will communicate further with creditors if progress is made in those discussions.
Tom Burton, Alan Bloom, Maggie Mills and Patrick Brazzill
Joint Administrators