Lloyds Banking Group, which issued its full-year results last week, has announced that Eric Daniels will retire as an executive director today. As previously announced, António Horta-Osório, previously head of Santander UK, will succeed Daniels as group chief executive at the start of March.

Daniel’s retirement comes after a period of big changes at the UK-listed banking group, which includes wealth management among its services. Lloyds is partly owned by the UK government after a public bailout in the aftermath of the 2008 financial panic.

Last year, pre-tax profit at the bank's wealth arm rose to £269 million (around $434 million) from £198 million for 2009, while pre-tax profits for the entire banking group improved.