Breach of trust

Shane O'Riordain (Comment, 25 February), sums up the fundamental lack of understanding he and his colleagues at Lloyds Banking Group have about the relationship between their bank and our foundation.

We are an independent charitable trust. We are not a corporate foundation of the group; the now dormant HBOS Foundation is. Lloyds Banking Group pays us money because it is legally obliged to do so. It is not an act of generosity on its part.

Our entitlement came about when Scottish savers had to be compensated for the loss of their bank, the Trustees Savings Bank. When it floated, an agreement was reached that rather than give shares to individuals, a Scottish Foundation would be set up and endowed with a shareholding of just under 1 per cent in the TSB plc. In lieu of dividends, 0.1946 per cent of pre-tax profits would be paid to us to distribute to the disadvantaged in the Scottish community, in perpetuity. Lloyds Banking Group merely continues to honour that legally binding agreement.

On the basis that we are not the group's corporate foundation, why should we now be forced to align our monies to fund activities that are the responsibility of the group to support "the overall ethos of the group" as Mr O'Riordain boldly states?

Should Lloyds Banking Group wish to spearhead initiatives that complement its own business objectives, it is free to do so – but that cannot be at the expense of Scotland's most vulnerable communities.

MARY E CRAIG OBE

Chief executive, Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland