Acting on behalf of partner lenders, HBOS has acquired the remaining 49% of MBL Holdings Limited, a UK-based provider of mortgage and financial services software, for £2.658 million.
The acquisition, funded by the issue of two tranches of shares, follows the purchase of a 51% controlling interest in MBL by Halifax Bank in May 2001. As with the original purchase, HBOS will split the stake equally with independent loan industry partners, including Nationwide, Alliance & Leicester, Northern Rock, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Woolwich and Barclays Bank. The banks are sharing their investment in MBL under an initiative aimed at developing a common trading platform for the UK mortgage lending industry.
Inefficiencies in UK mortgage application procedures lead to excessive costs for lenders and brokers and lengthy delays for customers. However, past efforts to develop common electronic trading standards have failed to win the backing of a critical mass of brokers, life companies and lenders.
MBL claims to have 1400 copies of its PC-based mortgage sourcing software installed at life companies and IFAs across the UK. The company has established the Mortgage Trading Exchange as an online platform for intermediaries to complete and electronically transmit back any lender's mortgage application form and receive a decision in principle on a loan within minutes.