A key lieutenant of Lloyds Banking Group’s new chief executive became the man to watch as a clear-out of the boardroom left him with an expanded empire.
Antonio Lorenzo, who was originally hired in the relatively modest role of head of wealth and international, has taken the dominant role in the main retail banking division and been put in charge of the bank’s strategic review.
He has also joined the bank’s executive committee, the powerful team immediately below the board, which makes day-to-day decisions.
The elevation of the 44-year-old Spaniard came as Lloyds confirmed the departures of Helen Weir, the head of retail banking, and Archie Kane, the head of the insurance division. Both were main board directors.
No one will directly replace Mrs Weir. Instead, Mr Lorenzo will take responsibility for retail products and marketing within the retail division, while the Lloyds TSB and Bank of Scotland branches will continue to be run by Joy Griffiths. The Halifax branches will continue to be run by David Nicholson. Ms Griffiths agreed to delay her departure to head the decision analystics division of Experian, the credit information group, until June.
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Of the three who will run the division, only Mr Lorenzo will sit on the executive committee. He will also orchestrate the strategic review, due in June, which will set out the chief executive António Horta-Osório’s vision for Lloyds.
The splitting of the retail division is expected to presage a greater distinction between the Lloyds TSB and Halifax brands with a view to widening the offer to customers, with Halifax positioned as more of a “challenger brand” to the more mainstream and traditional Lloyds.
The failure to announce a replacement for Mr Kane, who was said to be retiring, yesterday triggered fresh speculation that its main life assurance operation, Scottish Widows, could be sold.
Insurance will be divided into life and pensions, and general insurance, with the heads of each reporting directly to Mr Horta-Osório.