P.M. BRIEFING : Lloyds Bank Buys Vegas Casino

Lloyds Bank of London is the new owner of the shuttered, 498-room Landmark hotel-casino a block east of the famed Las Vegas Strip. The resort closed in August when no bids were tendered in a public auction.

The bank paid a reported $20 million for the property to protect a $25-million loan made in 1988 to former owner William Morris. The sale places a $6-million debt owed by Morris to Imperial Palace hotel-casino owner Ralph Engelstad in limbo, along with another $1.7 million owed to taxicab company owner Charles Frias, a bank spokesman said Thursday.

The Landmark hotel-casino, a space-needle shaped resort once owned by the late billionaire Howard Hughes, is located across the street from the Las Vegas Convention Center.