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UKFI denies approach over Lloyds' banking role
The body in charge of Britain's bank stakes said it has not asked former Citigroup chairman Win Bischoff to chair Lloyds Banking Group and the search was still ongoing.
UK Financial Investments (UKFI) said a report it had asked Bischoff to head Lloyds was "pure speculation", and no-one else had been asked either.
"The process to select a new chairman is being run by Lloyds and is still ongoing," UKFI said in a statement.
Veteran banker Bischoff has been asked to take the job by UKFI, which has a 43 per cent stake in Lloyds, the Financial Times reported.
Lloyds declined to comment.
Its current chairman Victor Blank plans to step down in the next year, following intense criticism of his role in the purchase of troubled rival HBOS.
That deal has saddled Lloyds with billions of pounds of losses from HBOS's more risky loan book, forcing the government to provide rescue funds.
The bank may have to sell a big chunk of its assets to comply with European antitrust rules, the EU's competition chief said, citing "problems" with Lloyds' share of the UK retail banking market.
Lloyds had warned in May that it could have to sell significant assets to win EU approval for its state bailout. It could be forced to sell its Halifax or Bank of Scotland branch networks, it was reported.
Bischoff, 67, was interim chief executive of Citigroup for a month at the end of 2007 and was chairman of the bank from December 2007 until January 2009.
He was at Citi's helm during a difficult time, and on his departure told staff: "The last 15 months have not been the easiest of my 44 years in banking."
German-born and South Africa-educated, he landed at Citi via its acquisition in 2000 of the investment banking business of Schroders, where he had been chairman since 1995.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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