FACTBOX: Key facts on LloydsTSB and HBOS

LONDON (Reuters) - British bank Lloyds TSB is in advanced talks to buy domestic rival HBOS Plc to create a 28 billion pound ($50 billion) mortgage giant.

Here are some facts about the two banks:

LLOYDS TSB:

--Lloyds TSB was formed in 1995 from the merger of Lloyds Bank and TSB Group and is the fifth-biggest listed bank in Britain by market value, with a market capitalization of almost 18 billion pounds.

--It has 70,000 employees and 1,900 branches in Britain, with 16 million customers.

--It is split into three businesses: UK retail banking; insurance and investments; and wholesale and international banking.

--Lloyds is the fourth-biggest mortgage provider with an 8.4 percent share of the market. It is the largest provider of current accounts with over 12.5 million customers.

--Lloyds is led by chairman Victor Blank and its American Chief Executive Eric Daniels. Blank is a lawyer turned dealmaker, who advised on some of the biggest takeovers of the 1980s.

--Lloyds Bank was set up in 1765 by John Taylor and Sampson Lloyd as a private banking business in Birmingham, UK. The group expanded across the UK and overseas and by the early 1990s it had offices in 30 countries. It acquired Cheltenham & Gloucester months before its merger with TSB Group.

--Lloyds became Britain's most profitable bank and a darling of the stock market in the 1990s after takeovers, cost efficiency and massive returns for investors.

--In July 2001 the government blocked Lloyds from buying mortgage bank Abbey National for 18.5 billion pound on competition grounds, signaling it would need to look overseas for acquisitions.

--Lloyds sold the bulk of its international operations in 2003/04.

--Last year the bank considered a rescue of troubled UK lender Northern Rock and more recently considered a big acquisition in Germany.

--It has suffered an estimated $2.6 billion of credit-related writedowns and losses since the credit crunch began last year, less than UK peers.

HBOS:

--HBOS is the sixth-biggest bank in Britain with a market value of about 10 billion pounds. It is the largest mortgage provider with a 20 percent market share.

--The group was formed after the merger of Halifax and Bank of Scotland in September 2001.

--The company's divisions are: corporate; retail; insurance and investment; treasury and asset management; and strategy & international.

--HBOS has 1,100 branches and 23 million customers. It is the UK's largest provider of savings accounts and has a 13 percent share of current accounts.

--The Edinburgh-based company employs 65,000 people in the UK, and a total 70,000 people worldwide. Its main overseas businesses are Bankwest in Australia and Bank of Scotland (Ireland) in Ireland.

--Outgoing CEO Andy Hornby is one of Britain's youngest chief executives, aged 41.

--Bank of Scotland was established in 1695, making it Scotland's oldest bank. The building society, Halifax, was established in 1852. Both companies made a string of acquisitions, including Halifax buying Clerical Medical and Birmingham Midshires.

--HBOS shares have lost over three-quarters of their value so far this year amid concerns about its exposure to structured credit assets, higher funding costs and its heavy exposure to the slowing UK housing market and broader economy. Total losses from writedowns and losses are estimated at $6.9 billion.

--It raised 4 billion pounds in a rights issue in July to rebuild its capital.

(Sources: Reuters, company filings)

(Compiled by Lorraine Turner; Editing by Steve Slater and Erica Billingham)