BRITAIN'S part-nationalized Lloyds Banking Group said yesterday that it has chosen an executive of Spanish bank Santander to be its next chief executive.

Antonio Horta-Osorio, who has headed Santander UK since 2006, will take over from Eric Daniels on March 1. Horta-Osorio began his career at CitiBank Portugal where he was in charge of capital markets.

After working for Goldman Sachs in New York and London, he joined Santander in 1993 as CEO of Banco Santander de Negocios Portugal.

With Santander in Britain, he oversaw the acquisition by unit Abbey National of the savings business of Bradford & Bingley in 2008 and the takeover of Alliance & Leicester last year.

Daniels led Lloyds TSB in acquiring Halifax/Bank of Scotland, a deal which drove the combination to the brink of collapse.