Credit Suisse banker to lead Lloyds and RBS stake sales

James Leigh-Pemberton, chief executive of Credit Suisse's British arm, will be appointed the new head of UK Financial Investments (UKFI) on Monday, according to a Credit Suisse internal memo seen by Reuters.

The appointment comes just as UKFI - set up to manage and eventually sell Britain's stakes in Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland - prepares to sell part of Britain's 39 percent stake in Lloyds.

Leigh-Pemberton, whose father was governor of the Bank of England for a decade from 1983, was a member of the team of bankers that advised Britain's Treasury on the recapitalisation of Lloyds and RBS when the Government pumped 66 billion pounds ($104.72 billion) into both lenders, keeping them afloat during the 2008 financial crisis.

Business Secretary Vince Cable told a newspaper last month that RBS, in which Britain owns an 81 percent stake, was unlikely to be reprivatised before 2018. The Government will conclude a review this autumn into whether RBS should be split up.

Leigh-Pemberton is set to step down from his role at Credit Suisse and join UKFI at the end of October, succeeding Jim O'Neil who left UKFI in April.

UKFI and Leigh-Pemberton could not be reached for comment late on Sunday.

($1 = 0.6303 British pounds)

(Reporting by Richa Naidu; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)