Lloyds Bank reduces employment in the risk department

As a "blocker" to the bank's "strategic transformation," UK high street giant Lloyds Bank is cutting back on the size of its risk management division.

Madilyn Swift

April 10, 2024

2Min Reads

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Banking

According to The Financial Times, chief risk officer Stephen Shelley announced plans to restructure the risk department in a statement addressed to the bank's employees last month.

The document reportedly purportedly provided a rationale for the layoffs, stating that risk management was impeding growth, according to two-thirds of bank executives.

The letter said, "We know people are frustrated by time-consuming processes and ingrained ways of working that leave us lagging behind our peers and impede our ability to be competitive."

Risk managers have long had to contend with the belief that risk management inhibits innovation and profit-making.

This was made clear during the 2008 financial crisis when banks persisted in making sub-prime loan investments in spite of risk managers' and their models' warnings.

As a result, the risk management community has worked to disseminate the word that effective risk management may also lead to financial gains by enabling banks to make the right decisions based on exposure analysis and more precise modeling.

Nonetheless, less than half of Lloyds employees think that "intelligent risk-taking is encouraged," according to Shelley's memo.

The bank told the Financial Times in a statement that, if the newly established responsibilities are taken into account, the reorganization will lead to 45 "role reductions." Additionally, the bank announced that certain areas of the company will undergo "upskilling."

A source "acquainted with the restructuring" was also cited by the Financial Times, speculating that around 175 permanent positions—150 of which are in the risk division—may be eliminated. Nonetheless, the bank intends to add 130 new positions centered on technological know-how and specialized risk.

The independent trade union BTU, which represents the employees of Lloyds, criticized the action.

Mark Brown, general secretary, claimed that the bank was "throwing the baby out with the bathwater" since it had set aside £450 million for possible fines and was currently the subject of a regulatory investigation into possible misselling of auto loans.