RBS changes signal end of the old guard

Published on Wednesday 6 May 2009 10:20

ROYAL Bank of Scotland today announced another three changes to its senior executive team as it continues to distance itself from the regime that led to the UK's biggest ever corporate loss.

All nine members of the Edinburgh-based bank's senior executive committee – one tier below board level – have now been appointed in the last 14 months, with all but two coming on board since October.

It means that all of those linked with the troubles at RBS – and its former chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin and chairman Sir Tom McKillop – have now left.

None of today's appointments are Scots, meaning that the senior team at RBS is becoming dominated by executives from outside of the company's home country.

Today's appointments see Brian Hartzer join the firm from Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Banking Group, where he was chief executive for Australia.

He was credited with turning ANZ into a major retail banking force in Australia and will now be responsible for RBS's' UK retail, wealth and Ulster Bank divisions. He takes over from Gordon Pell, who is to retire early next year.

The other two changes announced today are in-house, with Paul Geddes, who currently runs the UK retail business, becoming chief executive of RBS's general insurance business.

Chris Sullivan, currently chief executive of RBS Insurance, is to take over from Alan Dickinson as chief executive of the UK corporate banking division. Mr Dickinson is to retire early next year.

Stephen Hester, chief executive at RBS, said: "I am extremely pleased to have been able to move rapidly to assemble a strong leadership team. We have many challenges ahead but really great businesses on which to build. The journey to standalone strength is a three to five-year one, with tough restructuring to execute against an inclement economic backdrop. I am, however, increasingly confident that we have assembled the 'tools' to do the job."

The company said the changes, which follow yesterday's news that chief financial officer Guy Whittaker will stand down, completes restructuring of its senior executive team.

However, it admitted that "further changes will continue" elsewhere in the group, with large-scale job losses still expected.

Mr Hester said: "We welcome Brian Hartzer to RBS. He is very highly regarded and he will fit into our team very well.

"It is also great to have two excellent internal candidates for major divisional portfolios. Chris and Paul have impressed me since we began working together in recent months and are well suited for their new roles."

RBS announced 9000 job cuts last month as it looks to make 2.5 billion of savings over the next three years. A trading update for the first three months of the year on Friday is expected to give more detail of how the transition of the firm is progressing.