Shareholders call for leadership change at Lloyds - report
Institutional shareholders are calling for the resignation of the chairman and chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, according to a report.
A number of institutions have met with UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the agency that manages the government's stake in the bank, to demand change at the bank, according to a report in the Times.
Major shareholders are reportedly unhappy with the way Sir Victor Blank, the chairman of Lloyds, and Eric Daniels, the chief executive, handled the takeover of HBOS.
The group has since admitted the deal was rushed through before all due diligence could be completed, and HBOS was carrying more debt than thought.
The Times quoted an unnamed institutional shareholder as saying: "I think everybody believes there needs to be some leadership change. From our perspective, the credibility of the top two is pretty compromised.
"I think that, over time, both will go."
Shareholders would be satisfied if one of the executives were to leave, the paper added.
A spokesperson for Lloyds said: "We believe that the HBOS deal will bring significant returns to our shareholders and it is worth noting that 96 per cent of shareholders voted in favour of the HBOS deal.
"We have a strong and settled management team that has the complete backing of the board. We did 5,000 man-days of due diligence and believe that we couldn't have done any more than that in the time allotted by HBOS."
Lloyds TSB acquired HBOS in September last year, after competition rules were waived to allow the rescue of the bank.
But the merged firm, Lloyds Banking Group, made a loss of £11 billion after taking on toxic debts held by HBOS, sending shares in the group plunging.
Earlier week, Sir Victor defended the acquisition of HBOS, stating the bank was in position to create the "largest financial provider in the UK".
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