LONDON, May 18 (UPI) -- Lloyds TSB Chairman Victor Blank said he will resign from the British bank when a successor is found, sparing himself a shareholder vote.
There were plenty of signs that the next shareholder vote would have been tough for Blank, who orchestrated the bank's takeover of struggling HBOS in September, The Times of London reported Monday.
The HBOS takeover came with Prime Minister Gordon Brown's assurances that the government would not challenge the purchase on antitrust grounds. However, while saving the government from having to rescue HBOS, huge losses revealed at HBOS have triggered calls for Blank and Chief Executive Officer Eric Daniels to resign.
Daniels has said the purchase was made with far less than the normally expected amount of due diligence. His future at the bank is also uncertain, The Times said.
Although the government paved the way for the purchase, The United Kingdom Financial Investments Ltd., which overseas the government's bailout funds, said it was undecided on how it would have voted in a shareholder vote, The Times reported.
Roger Lawson, of the U.K. Shareholders' Association, said he welcomed Blank's departure.
"He should go immediately," Lawson said.
