Lord Levene has unexpectedly resigned from the supervisory board of Deutsche Borse.

The Lloyd's chairman, who had only agreed to serve on the three-member sub-committee last week, said that the time required for the role was far greater than he had been led to believe when he took it on, according to reports.

Xchanging chief executive David Andrews and the German exchange's chairman Rolf Breuer remain on the board.

The German exchange is currently in negotiations to buy the London Stock Exchange.