A financier who tried to broker an alternative deal to the proposed takeover of HBOS has conceded defeat.
Jim Spowart, who founded Intelligent Finance and Standard Life Bank, blamed UK Government ministers and a series of leaks for ending his campaign to stop the Lloyds TSB deal going through.
He said: "For some reason the UK Government is opening up competition rules to let this happen. We won the technical argument, but there's no interest being shown to me at all by any Labour MP, MSP or the Scottish Secretary."
Despite bowing out of the anti-merger campaign, he backed former banking chiefs Sir Peter Burt and Sir George Mathewson who launched a campaign of their own.
It emerged last week that Sir George, ex-chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, and former HBOS chief executive Sir Peter were seeking to oust the current chairman and chief executive and step into the jobs.
But Mr Spowart admitted maintaining the independence of HBOS, with its headquarters in Edinburgh, was all but lost. "It looks unlikely. Sir Peter and Sir George will have to do something exceptional now," he said.
The comments came after weeks of wrangling over the future of the institutions. Mr Spowart said he was still angry after Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy revealed this month that early talks had been held with a foreign bank about a potential bid for HBOS. Mr Murphy's political opponents accused him of trying to spike the deal by leaking details.
BBC business editor Robert Peston named the Bank of China as the bidder, prompting accusations that the Treasury was leaking details.
Mr Spowart said: "There are so many leaks - the government's like a sieve."
He warned that "tens of thousands" of jobs were on the line because of the Lloyds TSB-HBOS deal. Both banks insist the deal is in their interests and the interests of shareholders.
