D-Day for bank's shares issue

TODAY is D-Day for the £4 billion rights issue of Edinburgh banking giant Halifax Bank of Scotland, with shareholders set to grill bosses over the plan before putting it to a vote.

HBoS shareholders will attend a general meeting this afternoon at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

Earlier this month HBoS sent out details of the meeting to more than two million shareholders across the UK, including 157,000 in Scotland.

The plans have come under close scrutiny in the last week, amid falling share prices and concerns about the company stock being "shorted" by influential investors, including the US hedge fund Harbinger Capital

At one point shares dropped below the rights issue price of 275p, but they have since risen again.