The UK's Financial Conduct Authority is resuming its long-suspended investigation of events surrounding the discovery of misconduct in the impaired assets team at Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) in Reading.

This resumes an FCA investigation that was put 'on hold' in early 2013 at the request of Thames Valley Police, who did not want it interfering with their own investigation and any resulting prosecutions. The FCA is focusing on the extent and nature of the knowledge of these matters at HBOS and the bank's communications with the regulator after the initial discovery of the misconduct.

Operation Hornet was name of the Thames Valley Police investigation, which took six years for corruption, fraudulent trading and money-laundering offences. Six people were jailed for a total of 47 years and 9 months. It was a complex multi-million pound corruption and fraud case involving HBOS bank employees and private business advisors that dated back more than a decade. The fraud resulted in the offenders profiting from hundreds of millions of pounds at the expense of businesses and a high street bank and its customers.