Bank of Scotland has been fined £4.2m for failing to keep accurate records of the mortgage payments of 250,000 Halifax customers. The Financial Services Authority said the problem, which was discovered last year, had lasted since 2004. The problem was due to the bank keeping the mortgage records on two separate computer systems, without always updating them. The bank apologised, saying it had co-operated "fully" with the regulator. Bank of Scotland was part of the HBOS group - along with the former Halifax bank - before HBOS itself was taken over by the Lloyds Banking Group in 2009. Earlier, in October 2008, the bank had written to some Halifax customers, telling them it would raise the standard variable rate (SVR) on their mortgages from 2% above the Bank Rate to 3% above it. Under pressure from the FSA, the b ank realised that its original mortgage offer documents, which had been supplied to some customers, had been confusing about the extent to which such capped SVRs applied, or could be altered.....Read more HERE