Lloyds Banking Group is planning to boost its lending to large corporate clients and broaden its services for financial institutions. This marks a significant shift for the retail banking leader, hinting at possible international expansion.
As the largest bank on British high streets, Lloyds is set to make corporate and institutional banking (CIB) a central focus in an upcoming strategic update from CEO Charlie Nunn, expected this summer.
This initiative involves enhancing their small office in the U.S. and other international sites to cater better to Britain’s multinational clients who may require cross-border services, as noted by a source close to the situation.
The move to expand beyond core banking services is noteworthy for Lloyds, which has been primarily concentrating on doubling its retail segment and diversifying its offerings related to pensions, investments, and insurance.
CIB caters to substantial corporate customers, global asset management firms, private equity groups, and other large financial entities. It provides services like debt capital markets, structured finance, foreign exchange hedging, and acquisition finance.
Lloyds currently services around 3,000 CIB customers, each generating a turnover of at least £100 million. It views this division as a vital growth engine, aiming to enhance existing services while also introducing new customer offerings. Nunn is likely to unveil specific plans in July.
However, insiders caution that Lloyds doesn’t intend to make major international strides or compete directly with U.S. banks.
Under Nunn’s leadership, there has been a quiet expansion within the CIB. Activity grew by 7% in 2025, but the business and commercial banking sector for smaller clients experienced a decline of 5%. Since 2022, CIB revenues have surged by 35%, with about £62.5 billion lent to clients in 2025, diverging from the group’s broader lending figure of £481.1 billion.
Lloyds is also in the process of hiring for its CIB segment, seeking to strengthen its financial services. Notably, John Langley from Wells Fargo has been appointed to lead the CIB, as announced last November.
Nonetheless, the bank isn’t looking to venture into capital-heavy activities like stock and bond trading; instead, its primary focus will remain on debt, foreign exchange, and interest rates.
While keen on CIB expansion, insiders indicate that Lloyds will still identify primarily as a retail bank.
CIB operates as a post-crisis unit outside of Lloyds’ ring-fencing, which distinguishes its retail banking division from other sectors. Regulatory authorities are examining ways to relax these rules, which currently prevent banks from utilizing funds from UK retail depositors for riskier ventures.
Lloyds has refrained from commenting on these developments.
This growth plan, initiated by Nunn in 2022, aims to diversify revenue sources in a manner less reliant on interest rates compared to traditional lending practices.
This push for diversification marks a significant growth effort for Lloyds, following years of job cuts that resulted from the financial crisis and subsequent bailouts. The bank returned to private ownership in 2017.
Since the diversification initiative began in February 2022, Lloyds’ share price has soared by 113%. Recent results indicate that Lloyds’ “other income,” encompassing fees from pensions, insurance, and property, increased by 9% to £6.1 billion.
Additionally, “interest income” was up 6% to £13.6 billion. By 2025, fee income independent of interest rates is expected to contribute about a third to Lloyds’ profits, in comparison to NatWest, which reported around 23% of its revenue from non-interest income in 2024.
Under this diversification strategy, Lloyds has also quietly amassed one of the UK’s largest residential property portfolios, valued at over £2 billion, alongside operating a private equity business, LDC, managing around £2.3 billion in assets.
