Lloyds Bank considers setting up subsidiary in Germany - source

LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Lloyds Banking Group is considering setting up a subsidiary in Frankfurt as Britain prepares to leave the European Union, according to a person familiar with the plans.

No final decision has been taken, the person said.

The bank, Britain's largest mortgage lender, declined to comment.

Lloyds is the only major British retail lender without a subsidiary in another EU country. It currently has branches in both Frankfurt and Amsterdam and would have to allocate more capital and employees to turn them into subsidiaries.

Banks are expected to announce more concrete plans for how they will adapt to Brexit in the coming months after Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed in a speech on Tuesday that Britain would leave the European single market.

In the clearest sign yet of how financial firms are preparing for the disruption, UBS (LSE: 0QNR.L - news) and HSBC, two of Europe's biggest banks, warned on Wednesday they could each move around 1,000 jobs out of London.

Frankfurt is in a good position to benefit from any shift of banking activity out of London after Brexit, city and banking industry officials say. It is host to the European Central Bank and it is the EU's second-biggest capital market. (Reporting By Andrew MacAskill; editing by Anjuli Davies and Susan Thomas)