ROYAL Bank of Scotland has appointed Alison Rose as deputy chief executive of its ring-fenced business in a move suggesting she could be in line to become the bank’s first female boss.
Rose will take up her new role on December 3 as deputy chief executive and director of NatWest Holdings, which encompasses the group’s retail banking businesses for RBS, NatWest, Ulster Bank
and Coutts.
The state-controlled bank said Rose will deputise for RBS chief executive Ross McEwan internally and externally, as well as “lead on key strategic projects”.
She will also continue in her current role as chief executive of RBS’s commercial and private banking business.
McEwan previously said he has a plan for RBS through to 2020 and Rose’s appointment suggests she is being positioned as a leading internal candidate to succeed him.
He said: “Alison has been doing a fantastic job leading our commercial and private banking division and cementing our position as the UK’s biggest and best bank for business.
“Alison’s commitment and focus on our customers will also be a strong addition to board discussions and decision-making and this appointment is a reflection of that.”
NatWest Holdings was formed in 2016 to ring-fence the company’s retail banking operations from its investment activities to comply with new regulation. RBS received a £45.5 billion bailout from the UK government following the 2008 financial crisis and the government recently sold a stake reducing its ownership to 62% from 70%.
McEwan previously said he wanted to see RBS back in private ownership.
Last month RBS paid out its first dividend in 10 years after reaching a long-awaited $4.9bn (£3.7bn) settlement with US regulators over claims that it mis-sold mortgages in the run-up to the financial crisis. It was considered the largest of a string of legacy issues that the bank is starting to put to rest a decade on from its bailout.
It comes after it was revealed RBS paid contractors a staggering £400 a day to stuff envelopes, wasting thousands of taxpayers’ money.
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