Mystery surrounds Isle of Man link to Sunday Telegraph 'Rogue HBOS Banker' story

Last Sunday's Telegraph business supplement ran a story about the suspension of "a rogue banker who unilaterally advanced millions of pounds in loans to struggling corporate clients".

The article claims that one of these clients is "understood to be a struggling airline based in the Isle of Man."

The Manx Herald has contacted the two main airlines based in the Island, Manx2 Ltd and EuroManx for a comment on the story.

Noel Hayes, Chairman of Manx2, was keen to point out they bank with NatWest, and with whom they have a very good relationship. He was pleased to say that passenger figures for the airline were up on the previous month and that he was "looking forward to the coming month with optimism".

CEO of EuroManx, John Seymour, was not available for comment. However, a spokesman for the airline said that they had been instructed to issue a "No comment" response and to suggest callers contact HBOS.

A press officer for HBOS said that usually they were able to assist with press inquiries, but in this case, due to commercial confidentiality, he couldn't shed any light on this part of the Sunday Telegraph story.

As for the Sunday Telegraph, perhaps understandably, they are more interested in the impact that the 'unauthorised' lending will have on HBOS's business rather than on the Isle of Man angle. However, they do believe their sources are reliable.

A Department of Trade & Industry spokesman, when contacted on Wednesday, said they had not known of the Sunday Telegraph story until the Manx Herald contacted them; but that they were certainly not aware of any financial problems with Isle of Man based airlines.