The Governor and Company of

The Bank of Scotland

Notice is hereby given that on 3rd March 2003 a Petition was presented to the Court of Session in Scotland by The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland, incorporated under Act of Parliament and having its Head Office at The Mound, Edinburgh EH1 1YZ (BoS) applying for, inter alia :

The sanction of the Court under Part VII of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) and in accordance with the Regulations (as hereinafter defined) made thereunder to a banking business transfer scheme (the Scheme) providing for the transfer to Halifax plc, a company incorporated in England and Wales under the Companies Acts with its registered office at Trinity Road, Halifax, West Yorkshire HX1 2RG (Halifax) (which, with BoS, is part of the HBOS Group) of part of the retail savings accounts banking business of BoS (the Transferring Business; as defined in the Scheme).

The main purpose of the Scheme following the merger of BoS with Halifax Group plc, is to transfer most retail savings deposit accounts of BoS to Halifax. This will mean that immediately after the effective date of the Scheme (which is explained below) these will be savings deposit accounts with Halifax on the same terms, and operated in the same way, as they are currently.

If sanctioned by the Court the Scheme will take effect from a date and time (the effective date), falling not more than five months after the Order sanctioning the Scheme. The effective date will be resolved upon by the boards of directors of BoS and Halifax but is currently expected to be during July 2003.

A statement setting out the terms of the Scheme (including financial information on BoS and Halifax) will be sent free of charge to any person who requests it in writing from Bank of Scotland IRCU, 2nd Floor, 2 Robertson Avenue, Edinburgh EH11 1PZ or by contacting BoS on 0845 850 2876. Also, a customer questions and answers leaflet, is available in all branches of BoS or by telephoning BoS on 0845 850 2876.

In accordance with, inter alia the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Control of Business Transfers) (Requirements on Applicants) Regulations 2001 (the Regulations), BoS will publish this notice in relation to the application. This is expected to be published during March 2003 in The London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes and in The Independent, The Scotsman, The Mirror, The Daily Record and The Scottish Sun newspapers.

Any person who wishes to object to the Scheme should lodge written Answers in the appropriate form to the Petition with the Court of Session at Parliament House, Parliament Square, Edinburgh EH1 1RQ within 21 days of the date of the publication of the last of these notices. Your calls may be monitored for training purposes and to help us continually improve our levels of service.

Dated this 14th day of March 2003