Lloyds' costs, integration expert Fisher to leave

Reuters
A man walks past a branch of Lloyds bank in central London February 13, 2014. REUTERS/Paul Hackett

LONDON (Reuters) - Lloyds Banking Group's director of operations, Mark Fisher, is leaving the bank after five years overseeing its integration of HBOS, the separation of more than 600 branches and a major cost-cutting programme. Fisher will become a non-executive director of TSB, the bank with 631 branches that has been spun out from Lloyds and is due to list on the London stock market in June. He has been involved in separating it from Lloyds and building it as a separate bank. Fisher was poached by Lloyds in March 2009 from Royal Bank of Scotland, where his roles included handling the integration of NatWest in 2000. He joined NatWest in 1981 and was its chief operating officer before it was bought by RBS. He is respected in the industry for handling complex integrations and divestments and overseeing cost-cutting programmes. Fisher will leave Lloyds on May 31. Lloyds said he will be replaced as head of operations by his deputy, David Oldfield. (Reporting by Steve Slater, editing by Louise Heavens)