RBS appoints telecoms veteran Frank Dangeard to board

Frank Dangeard, the former deputy chairman of troubled Norwegian telecoms group Telenor, has joined Royal Bank of Scotland's board as a non-executive director.

Former Telenor deputy chairman Frank Dangeard joins the RBS board. Picture: Contributed

The Canadian-born French national recently stepped down from the board of Telenor in the wake of a review by Deloitte that highlighted “weaknesses in organisational structure, communication and leadership” over the firm’s 33 per cent ownership of Russian rival VimpelCom, which has been fined $795 million (£553m) after admitting it violated US anti-corruption laws.

Although the Deloitte report found that no Telenor employees had been involved in “corrupt actions”, the Norwegian group has pledged to “face up to the criticism and learn from it”.

Sir Howard Davies, chairman of Edinburgh-based RBS, said Dangeard – a former deputy chief executive of France Telecom who was previously chairman of SG Warburg France – would be an “excellent addition” to the state-backed lender’s board.

“He is a former banker and senior company executive who has substantial board-level experience across a number of sectors, including the IT, technology, telecom and financial sectors,” Davies said.

“His change management and transformation experience will be a real asset to the board. I am very much looking forward to working with him.”