Lloyds Banking Group general counsel and company secretary Harry Baines is set to retire from the bank, almost four years after taking the top legal role in the wake of the Lloyds TSB-HBOS merger, it has emerged.

Baines, the former legal head of HBOS, took up his current role in October 2008 following Lloyds TSB’s £12.2bn takeover of HBOS, which formally took effect in January 2009.