Businessweek

Lloyds Banking Group plc, a financial services group, provides a range of banking and financial services to personal and corporate customers primarily in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and internationally. The company’s primary business activities are retail, commercial, and corporate banking; general insurance; and life, pensions, and investment provision. Services are offered through various brands, including Lloyds TSB, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, and Scottish Widows, and a range of distribution channels, including the major banking branch network in the U.K. As of December 31, 2012, the company occupied 3,128 properties in the U.K. Of these, 896 were held as freeholds and 2,232 as leasehold. The majority of these properties are retail branches, distributed throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Other buildings include the company’s head office in the city of London with other customer service and support centers located to suit business needs and clustered in eight core geographic conurbations, such as London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Midlands (Birmingham), Northwest (Chester and Manchester), West Yorkshire (Halifax and Leeds), South (Brighton and Andover), and Southwest (Bristol and Cardiff). Divisions The company operates through four divisions: Retail; Commercial Banking; Wealth, Asset Finance and International; and Insurance. Retail This division provides banking, mortgages, and other financial services to personal customers in the U.K. This division provides current accounts, including packaged accounts and basic banking accounts; savings; personal loans; and credit cards. With its brands, including Lloyds TSB, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, and Cheltenham & Gloucester, it serves approximately 30 million customers through a branch and fee free automatic teller machine network in the U.K. and a digital, telephony, and mobile proposition. This division provided 1 in 5 new residential mortgages and provided approximately 55,000 mortgages to help first time buyers in 2012. This division is a private sector savings provider in the U.K. It is also a major general insurance and bancassurance distributor, offering a range of long-term savings, investment, and general insurance products. Commercial Banking This division provides banking and related services to business clients, from small businesses to large corporates. This division would lead the business through four coverage segments: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Mid-Markets, Global Corporates, and Financial Institutions. This division would meet clients’ needs with a suite of core banking products from lending and transaction banking to financial markets and capital markets, delivering the capability of the bank to clients and serving their needs as they move up the value chain. Wealth, Asset Finance and International This division comprises the company’s private banking and asset management activities, its international retail businesses, and its U.K. and international asset finance and online deposit businesses. Wealth: It includes the U.K. and International Wealth businesses, Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, and St James’s Place. Asset Finance: It includes the U.K. and International Asset Finance and online deposit businesses. International: It includes banking businesses in Ireland, Europe, Asia, and the rest of the world (excluding businesses transferred to the Commercial Banking division in 2012). Insurance This division provides long-term savings, protection and investment products, and general insurance products to personal customers in the U.K. and Europe, and consists of three elements: Life, Pensions, and Investments: The U.K. Life, Pensions, and Investments business provides long-term savings, protection, and investment products distributed through the bancassurance, intermediary, and direct channels of the Lloyds TSB, Halifax, Bank of Scotland, and Scottish Widows brands. The European Life, Pensions, and Investments business distributes products primarily in the German market under the Heidelberger Leben and Clerical Medical brands. In common with other life assurance companies in the U.K., the life and pensions business of each of the life assurance companies in the company is written in a long-term business fund. The primary long-term business funds are divided into one or both of With Profit and Non-Profit sub funds. Other life and pensions products are written from Non-Profit sub-funds. It includes unit-linked policies, annuities, term assurances, and health insurance (under which a predetermined amount of benefit is payable in the event of an insured event, such as being unable to work through sickness). General Insurance: The General Insurance business is a distributor of home insurance in the U.K., with products sold through the branch network, direct channels, and strategic corporate partners. The business also has brokerage operations for personal and commercial insurances. It operates primarily under the Lloyds TSB, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland brands. Strategy The company’s corporate strategy is built around becoming the best bank for personal and commercial customers across the U.K. and creating value by investing in areas that make a real difference to these customers. The other primary elements to the company’s strategy include simplifying the business; improving its agility and efficiency whilst focusing on core markets, which offer strong returns and attractive growth; and maintaining a prudent approach to risk. History The company was founded in 1985. It was formerly known as Lloyds TSB Group plc and changed its name to Lloyds Banking Group plc in 2009.