Staff were told last week that the Lloyd’s unit would cease operations and that its client portfolio would be sold to Banque de Luxembourg, according to a joint press statement issued Friday by unions ALEBA, LCGB-SESF and OGBL. BdL confirmed the client account deal in a separate announcement.

However, only 12 to 15 of Lloyd’s employees would be transferred to BdL as part of the deal, the unions reported on Wednesday. Discussions have begun over the social plan for the remaining Lloyd’s employees.

The unions noted that Lloyd’s sold its Luxembourg investment fund operation in October 2010, with 10 employees going to State Street Bank.

Parent Lloyd’s Banking Group was involved in the largest bank bailout in history, with the UK government injecting more than £20 billion pounds in 2009. The British government, which owns more than 40 percent of the group, has seen its share price fall by more than 40 percent, according to Bloomberg figures.

Lloyd’s Luxembourg private banking operation had €18.5 billion in assets under management. BdL said the takeover fits with its strategy of growing its wealth management business with an increasingly international clientele.

BdL noted that it had already digested its May 2011 takeover of HSH Nordbank Private Banking, the former Luxembourg wealth management unit of the German regional bank.