Statement of directors' responsibilities

The directors are responsible for preparing the annual report, the directors’ remuneration report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the directors have prepared the consolidated and parent company financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union. The financial statements are required by law to give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company and the Group and of the profit or loss of the Group for that period. The directors consider that in preparing the financial statements the Company and the Group have used appropriate accounting policies, consistently applied and supported by reasonable and prudent judgements and estimates, and that all accounting standards which they consider applicable have been followed.

The directors have responsibility for ensuring that the Company and the Group keep proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy the financial position of the Company and the Group and which enable them to ensure that the financial statements and the directors’ remuneration report comply with the Companies Act 1985 and, as regards the consolidated financial statements, Article 4 of the IAS Regulation. They have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the Company and the Group and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.

A copy of the financial statements of the Company is placed on the website of Lloyds TSB Group plc. The directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of statutory and audited information on the Company’s website. Information published on the internet is accessible in many countries with different legal requirements. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.