Absa Group’s Deputy Chief Executive, Louis von Zeuner, will, at his own request, move to a non-executive role in 2013.

The shake-up in Absa’s upper echelons is a case of parent Barclays “micromanaging” the local operations and direct intervention, according to sources.

Retrenchments are looming in the home loan sales departments of two of South Africa’s four major banks, media reports have said.