Top Lloyds duo to leave as Horta-Osorio shake-up continues

Two of Lloyds Banking Group (Other OTC: LLOBF - news) ’s top executives are leaving the bank as its chief reshapes its senior ranks weeks after committing his own future to the UK's biggest lender.

Sky News has learnt that Miguel Angel Rodriguez-Sola, Lloyds' digital boss, and Mary Hall, the bank's group audit director, are leaving the company.

The departures, which are unrelated, come as Antonio Horta-Osorio prepares to cut an additional 3000 jobs across Lloyds by the end of next year following an announcement earlier in the summer.

Mr Rodriguez-Sola is understood to be leaving Lloyds to pursue an opportunity with a technology company in his native Spain, and will be replaced by Zak Mian, subject to the approval of regulators.

Ms Hall, who joined Lloyds from KPMG, the accountancy firm, in 2014, was one of the bank's top-ranked female executives, and the reasons for her exit were unclear on Monday.

In a statement, a Lloyds spokesman said:

"We can confirm Mary Hall is an employee of the group.

"Beyond that we do not comment on individual matters."

News (Other OTC: NWSAL - news) of the duo's moves come soon after Mr Horta-Osorio, who has run Lloyds since 2011, tried to allay speculation about his future in the wake of tabloid newspaper claims of an extramarital affair.

In a memo to the bank's 75,000 staff last month, he said he was committed to leading Lloyds through the next phase of its strategy.

British taxpayers continue to own just under 9% of the bank's shares, although the prospect of an imminent sale of that stake appears to have receded in the aftermath of June's referendum on EU membership.

A Lloyds spokesman confirmed both that Mr Rodriguez-Sala was leaving the company and Mr Mian's appointment as his successor.

The Financial Times reported on Monday that some City shareholders were pressing the bank to step up succession planning for Mr Horta-Osorio.