LONDON, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Lloyds Banking Group ison the verge of appointing Norman Blackwell, currently chairmanof its Scottish Widows arm, as the company's new chairman, aperson familiar with the matter said.
Conservative peer Lord Blackwell is going through the bank'sfinal approval processes and is set to replace outgoing chairmanWin Bischoff as early next year, the source said.
Lloyds declined to comment.
Bischoff has said he plans to step down by next spring andBlackwell has been seen for some time as a leading candidate tosucceed him. Blackwell's expected appointment was first reportedby the Financial Times.
Blackwell, 61, has been on the Lloyds board since June 2012.He is currently chairman of support services firm Interserve and was previously director of group development atNatWest, now part of Royal Bank of Scotland, and was apartner at consultancy McKinsey.
Lloyds has turned around its fortunes and its shares are up67 percent this year, allowing the government to start sellingits stake.
Britain still owns 33 percent of the bank and would like tosell all its stake by the 2015 election, possibly including asale to retail investors - and the new chairman will play a keyrole in that process.