Lloyds banking chief Blank to step down
BANK chief Sir Victor Blank announced yesterday that he is quitting.Lloyds
The chairman of the part-nationalised Lloyds Banking Group is to step down before next year’s shareholders’ meeting. The move follows intense criticism of Lloyds’ takeover of HBOS earlier this year, which was led by Blank and ended with billions of pounds in losses because of the troubled mortgage lender’s bad debts.
The Government, which had urged Lloyds to buy HBOS to save it from collapse, bailed out the group and now holds 43.4 per cent of its shares.
Sir Victor said it was “the right time” for a new chairman and he would work on until his successor is appointed.