The merger between Lloyds TSB and HBOS has received support from the prime minister.
Gordon Brown has dismissed calls for the proposed takeover of Halifax Bank of Scotland by Lloyds TSB to be scrapped, insisting the latter's bid is the only serious one on the table at the moment.
The prime minister made his comments during his Downing Street press conference after HBOS rejected an attempted takeover by two Scottish businessmen.
Sir George Mathewson and Sir Peter Burt - the former heads of the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Bank of Scotland - approached the bank with a deal that would see the two of them take positions as chief executive and chairman.
HBOS threw out the offer, insisting it did not represent value for shareholders. Today Gordon Brown suggested that the Lloyds TSB proposal is the only "realistic one".
"The problem is that apart from Lloyds TSB no serious bid that is funded has actually come forward," he remarked. "It is not going to change much if one person says he wants to, or they want to, take over a bank if they have got no money behind them. And that is the issue we face at the moment."
Reports from the BBC suggest that the Bank of China is in talks over a rival bid, although this has not been confirmed. Bank of China said its third quarter profits attributable to equity holders increased by 31.82 percent compared with the same period last year.
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