The location of the headquarters of a merged Halifax and Bank of Scotland (BoS) has emerged as the most contentious issue in the £28bn proposed deal.
The Scottish National Party said a decision to place the head office outside of Edinburgh would be disastrous.
Analysts expect a merger to be closed in two weeks. Abbey National refused to rule out a bid for Bank of Scotland to break up the talks.
The Daily Telegraph 27/04/01 page 31
The Independent 27/04/01 page 18
Financial Times 27/04/01 page 25 (Observer), page 32
The Guardian 27/04/01 page 27
