This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7622867.stm
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Calls for speculator clamp down | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Scots political parties have united to demand a clampdown on financial speculators, in the wake of the planned HBOS takeover by Lloyds TSB. | |
| The call came after First Minister Alex Salmond urged the UK Government to end short selling by speculators, which he branded "economic vandalism". | |
| He also said Lloyds TSB chairman Sir Victor Blank has agreed to hold talks with the Scottish Government. | |
| MSPs also expressed concern about job cuts during question time at Holyrood. | |
| Lloyds TSB said it would continue to use the HBOS headquarters in Edinburgh after the £12bn takeover and would carry on printing Bank of Scotland notes. | |
| Rich kids in bright shirts in London, New York and Tokyo are making money at our expense Tavish ScottScottish Liberal Democrat leader | |
| HBOS has about 17,000 staff in Scotland, while Lloyds TSB has more than 7,000 employees. | |
| During a specially extended session of first minister's question time, Mr Salmond said nobody should be allowed to make millions at the cost of thousands of jobs, while he pledged to "strain every sinew" to keep jobs in Scotland. | |
| He again said financial regulators should have acted to forestall the speculative attack on HBOS, adding: "I think it's been laid low by the actions of speculators in the money markets and I think action must be taken against that. | He again said financial regulators should have acted to forestall the speculative attack on HBOS, adding: "I think it's been laid low by the actions of speculators in the money markets and I think action must be taken against that. |
| "Not just to look back as to what's happened to HBOS, but also that other financial institutions will be targeted unless restraints are made on short selling." | "Not just to look back as to what's happened to HBOS, but also that other financial institutions will be targeted unless restraints are made on short selling." |
| Scotland's financial sector advisory board will also hold an emergency meeting next Tuesday. | |
| Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray said the country was in the grip of a global financial crisis, and Scotland was not immune. | |
| Buccaneer capitalism | |
| He added: "I have every sympathy for the first minister's anger at speculation and short selling. | |
| "Anyone celebrating a profit today from what has happened should frankly go to the fire." | |
| Annabel Goldie, the Scottish Tory leader, said short selling - the practice of selling shares in the expectation of a falling share price - was unacceptable. | |
| "It is totally unacceptable to spread malicious rumours in markets and to benefit from short selling and no one takes pleasure from people making money out of the misery of others," she said. | |
| The Liberal Democtrats' Tavish Scott expressed concern over what could happen to other banks in the wake of HBOS. | |
| "Rich kids in bright shirts in London, New York and Tokyo are making money at our expense," he told MSPS. | |
| "Scotland loses it's bank, people lose their branches, the country is worse off." | |
| Commenting on the blame attributed by MSPs to speculators, Patrick Harvie, of the Scottish Greens, asked: "Isn't the root cause of the problem, the culture of de-regulated buccaneer capitalism, which all of these political parties have supported, celebrated and even courted?" |