Lloyds TSB chief executive Eric Daniels said those "able to be most successful" had been chosen, as his bank revealed it would fill nine of the top 11 jobs in the group created by its effective takeover of HBOS.

LLOYDS TSB chief executive Eric Daniels said the people "able to be most successful" had been chosen, as his bank revealed it would fill nine of the top 11 jobs in the group created by its effective takeover of HBOS.

Daniels also made no bones about Archie Kane, who runs Lloyds TSB's Scottish Widows life and pensions business, being the only member of the top executive team of the enlarged bank who would be based in Edinburgh.

First Minister Alex Salmond, who met with Daniels on Tuesday, has mounted a high-profile campaign for key decision-making roles in the combined Lloyds TSB-HBOS to be located in Edinburgh.

Daniels was diplomatic on this issue, but the top team announced yesterday by Lloyds TSB indicates that representations from Salmond and other Scottish politicians have had no signi-ficant bearing on the combined entity's organisation. Kane is based in the Scottish capital already.

Asked about Salmond's efforts to secure key decision-making responsibilities for Scotland, and the First Minister's recent comments about the deal not going ahead unless tough questions were answered by the UK government, Daniels replied: "I had a chance to meet with the First Minister a couple of days ago. It was a very productive meeting.

"Basically what the First Minister was seeking to do was talk to us about the advantages of being in Scotland. He mentioned the costs being lower, the skills base of people who work (in Scotland). We had a very good meeting. We listened very closely to his point of view."

Peter Cummings, the head of corporate banking at HBOS who has worked on huge deals with Scottish entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter and retail tycoon Sir Philip Green, did not figure yesterday among the board or the executive committee of the bank to be created by Lloyds TSB's takeover of HBOS. This will add to speculation that Cummings, who joined Bank of Scotland as a school-leaver and is now in his fifties, will retire or pursue other ventures.

Asked about Cummings, Daniels replied: "I think Peter is a terrific guy. Undoubtedly, over the next several weeks and months, we will be talking more about the HBOS people."

Asked if it was a reflection of the relative competence of the two banks' management teams that nine of the top 11 appointments for the enlarged group had gone to people from the Lloyds TSB side of the deal, Daniels replied: "I think the way to think about it is, if we think about the combined entity, it is a substantially different entity from either of the two parent organisations. We are creating something that is brand new. What we basically have to do is define each job."

Providing an example to highlight the need to choose between candidates from each side, he noted: "The head of wholesale (banking) in HBOS, the head of wholesale in Lloyds TSB, each had defined job descriptions."

Of the general job-allocation process, Daniels added: "We had to make a judgment around who would be able to be most successful in leading this much larger, much more complex organisation. It doesn't say there aren't hugely talented people in HBOS; there are, as there are in Lloyds TSB.

"The process was absolutely impartial. We talked to individuals on both sides."

He emphasised "pretty objective criteria" had been used in the selection process.

Asked by The Herald to confirm Kane would be the only member of the top execu-tive team based in Scotland, after the line-up was unveiled yesterday, Daniels replied: "Yes."

Daniels added that Kane would be the "key interface for the group and the country (Scotland)".

Lloyds TSB had already announced that its chairman, Sir Victor Blank, would have the same position in the enlarged group formed by the deal with HBOS and that Daniels would be chief executive of the combined entity.

It was announced on October 13 that HBOS's chief executive, Andy Hornby, and the Edinburgh-based bank's chairman, Lord Dennis Stevenson, would depart when the deal is concluded.

Both Hornby and Stevenson have, of their own volition, waived any right to a severance payment.

Lloyds TSB said yesterday that Helen Weir would be appointed group executive director of UK retail banking in the enlarged group. Weir has held the same position at Lloyds TSB since April 2008, and was previously the London-based bank's finance director.

Truett Tate will be group executive director of wholesale, which takes in corporate banking. He is currently group executive director responsible for wholesale and international banking at Lloyds TSB.

Lloyds TSB said Kane would be group executive director of insurance in the enlarged bank "and will represent the new board in Scotland". Kane is currently chief executive of Widows and Lloyds TSB's group executive director of insurance and investments.

Tim Tookey will be group finance director of the enlarged bank. Tookey has been acting finance director of Lloyds TSB.

These posts all carry with them a seat on the main board.

Looking at senior positions below board level, Lloyds TSB chief risk director Carol Sergeant will have the equivalent role in the enlarged bank.

Angie Risley, Lloyds TSB's group human resources director, will have the same job in the combined entity.

Chris Wiscarson, director of group IT and operations at Lloyds TSB, will be group integration director in the enlarged bank. The IT and operations director position in the enlarged group has yet to be filled.

Jo Dawson, chief executive of HBOS's insurance and investment division and head of this bank's branch network, will be wealth and international director of the enlarged group. But Dawson, who works out of HBOS's Bristol and Halifax sites, will not have the board seat which she has at HBOS.

Harry Baines, the company secretary of HBOS, will be general counsel and company secretary of the enlarged group. Baines, who lives in Manchester, sits on HBOS's executive committee, below board level.

Chancellor Alistair Darling was involved heavily in brokering what the City views as a rescue takeover of HBOS by Lloyds TSB in the days immediately after the September 15 collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers.

This caused calamity in the wholesale funding markets on which HBOS is reliant.

Daniels declined to be drawn when asked by The Herald whether the allocation of the top jobs indicated a view that Lloyds TSB had been better managed than HBOS.

He replied: "I think there are very talented people on both sides of the organisation. I suspect, as we start to name the next layers of management, we will see very good participation from the HBOS side."

Daniels also sidestepped the question when asked if he believed HBOS had any option other than merging with Lloyds TSB.

He said: "I think both sides are absolutely committed to the deal. It is a very good deal for both sets of shareholders. I think the enlarged entity has a great opportunity for creating shareholder value."

Daniels did, however, move to dispel vague notions in some quarters in Scotland that the government's recapitalisation scheme for the UK banking sector might somehow increase the likelihood of HBOS continuing as an independent entity.

He said: "I think the deal will absolutely go ahead. It goes ahead because it is a good deal for both sets of shareholders. I think the logic is absolutely compelling."

HBOS has also hammered home its wish to proceed with the Lloyds TSB deal. Such was the government's view of the urgency of arranging a deal for HBOS, amid the financial market mayhem, that it waived the usual competition considerations.

Lloyds TSB's effective takeover of HBOS is due to conclude in January.

Daniels would not be drawn on the number of job losses which would arise from the combination of Lloyds TSB and HBOS.

"We haven't given any numbers on that yet," he said.

Pressed by The Herald on whether the number of job losses would be greater or less than 10% of the combined 139,000 workforce of HBOS and Lloyds TSB, Daniels replied: "Good try."

Hornby also declined to say, when asked by The Herald on September 22, whether the losses would be more or less than 10% of the total staff number.

Daniels' refusal yesterday would seem likely to add to fears among staff that it will be more than 10%.

HBOS employs about 17,000 people in Scotland out of a UK-wide headcount of 65,000 and worldwide total of 72,000.

Lloyds TSB has a workforce of 7200 in Scotland, out of a total headcount of 67,000.

Shares in HBOS jumped 6p, or 6.8%, to 94p yesterday.

This narrows the discount at which they are trading to the value of Lloyds TSB's offer, of 0.605 of its shares for every one in HBOS, to 21%, and signals greater confidence in the City that the deal will go ahead.

The Lloyds TSB offer was last night worth 119.5p per HBOS share. Shares in Lloyds TSB rose 18.25p or 10.2% to 197.5p.