Directorate Change

RNS Number : 0723C

Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC

27 August 2008

 



The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc 

Board Appointments and Board Changes

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc ('RBS') announces today that Stephen Hester, John McFarlane and Arthur (Art) Ryan have been appointed Non-Executive Directors of RBS with effect from 1 October 2008. 

RBS also announces that Lawrence (Larry) Fish and Charles (Bud) Koch will retire as Non-executive Directors of RBS ahead of the AGM in April 2009. 

Commenting on the Board changes Sir Tom McKillop, Chairman of RBS, said:

'I am delighted that Stephen Hester, John McFarlane and Art Ryan have agreed to become independent Non-executive Directors of RBS.  Their experience in financial services will be of great benefit to RBS given the increasingly diversified and international nature of our powerful banking franchises.'

Stephen Hester is Chief Executive of The British Land Company PLC.  He also has considerable banking experience in the UK and internationally. This encompasses retail and commercial banking and complex financial markets businesses.  Stephen has previously served as Chief Operating Officer and Finance Director of Abbey National plc.  He spent 19 years with Credit Suisse First Boston in the UK and US, his senior roles including Chief Financial Officer, Global Head of the Fixed Income Division and co-Head European Investment Banking.

John McFarlane is a career banker and has extensive UK and international experience, particularly of markets in Asia and Australia. He retired in 2007 after serving 10 years as Chief Executive Officer of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited.  He spent four years with Standard Chartered plc, latterly as Group Executive Director based in London and Hong Kong, and 18 years with Citibank, where his previous appointments included Head of Citicorp / Citibank in the UK and Managing Director of Citicorp Investment Bank Limited in London. 

Arthur Ryan retired as Chairman of Prudential Financial, Inc., a leading US financial services company, in May 2008 and as Chief Executive Officer and President in December 2007, having spent nearly 14 years leading the organisation.  Arthur also has significant US and international banking experience from his 22 years at the former Chase Manhattan Bank, where his senior roles included President and Chief Operating Officer and Vice-Chairman.  He ran Chase's worldwide retail bank between 1984 and 1990. 

Sir Tom added:

'I would like to acknowledge the strong contributions that Larry Fish and Bud Koch have made to the RBS Board.  On behalf of the Board, I extend our thanks to both Larry and Bud for their service and wish each of them well for the future.'

'I have no doubt that Stephen, John and Art will add tremendous value to the Board of RBS.  On behalf of my fellow Board members I look forward to welcoming them to the Company and to working with them as we take the business forward. '

The appointments are subject to the usual regulatory approvals. There are no other matters requiring disclosure under Listing Rule 9.6.13.

Biographical Details

Stephen Hester

Stephen Hester was appointed Chief Executive of The British Land Company PLC in November 2004.  He was previously Chief Operating Officer of Abbey National plc, having joined in May 2002 as Finance Director. His prior career was at Credit Suisse First Boston in London and New York from 1982 to 2001. His roles included co-Head European Investment Banking, and from 1996 an Executive Board member. initially as Chief Financial Officer, then as Global Head of the Fixed Income Division (including fx, derivatives and credit markets). In February 2008, he was appointed Non-executive Deputy Chairman of Northern Rock PLC, a position he will relinquish on 1 October 2008. He is also a trustee of The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Foundation. He was born in 1960 and holds a first class degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University.

John McFarlane

John McFarlane served as Chief Executive Officer of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited from 1997 until his retirement in 2007. From 1993 to 1997 he held various senior positions with Standard Chartered Bank, latterly as Group Executive Director based in London and Hong Kong with responsibility for South East Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa, USA and Latin America. Prior to that he spent 18 years with Citibank, where his roles included Head of Citicorp / Citibank in the UK and Managing Director of Citicorp Investment Bank Limited in London.  He is currently a non-executive director of Westfield Holdings Limited, a director of Old Oak Holdings Limited and is a member of Consolidated Press Holdings Advisory Board. He is a former President of the International Monetary Conference and a former Chairman of the Australian Bankers Association and holds banking and securities fellowships in the UK, Hong Kong and Australia. He has previously served as a director of the London Stock Exchange and a member of the Auditing Practices Board.  He holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Edinburgh and an MBA from Cranfield School of Management.

Arthur (Art) Ryan

Arthur Ryan served as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Prudential Financial Inc., a major US financial services company headquartered in New Jersey, from 1999 until his retirement in 2008. Mr Ryan joined Prudential Insurance in 1994 as Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer and President and oversaw the restructure and demutualisation of the company. His prior career was with the former Chase Manhattan Bank NA where he held a variety of senior executive positions including Executive Vice President, Corporate Operations and Systems, Vice Chairman, Retail Banking and Wealth Management and from 1990 to 1994 President and Chief Operating Officer. He is currently a Non-executive Director of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and an active member of numerous community boards. He was a founding member of the Financial Services Forum established by Hank Paulson, former Chairman of Goldman Sachs and now US Treasury Secretary. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics from Providence College. 

Lawrence (Larry) Fish

Larry Fish was appointed to the Board in January 1993.  He is a career banker and was previously a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.  He is an incorporator of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a trustee of The Brookings Institution, and a director of Textron Inc., Tiffany & Co and numerous community organisations in the USA.  Mr Fish was appointed non-executive Chairman, RBS America and Citizens Financial Group, Inc. with effect from 1 January 2008.  He was previously an Executive Director of the Company and became a Non-Executive Director on 1 May 2008.

Charles (Bud) Koch

Bud Koch was appointed to the Board in September 2004.  He has extensive professional experience in the USA and is immediate past chairman of the board of John Carroll University, and a trustee of Case Western Reserve University.  He was Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Charter One Financial, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Charter One Bank, N.A., between 1973 and 2004.  He is also a director of Assurant, Inc. and a public interest director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati.

For Further Information Contact

Andrew McLaughlin                                    [phone]

Group Director - Communications            [phone]

Carolyn McAdam                                        + 44 131 523 2055

Group Head of Media Relations               + 44 7796 274968

Notes to Editors

Future and Current Composition of the Board

Once all the changes outlined above have been implemented the Board will comprise the Chairman, 12 Independent Non-executive Directors and five Executive Directors. The Board currently comprises the Chairman, nine Independent Non-executive Directors, two Non-Independent Non-Executive Directors and five Executive Directors.

The already strong banking and international experience of the Board will be further enhanced by these changes.

Biographical details for the current RBS Directors are set out below.

Chairman

Sir Tom McKillop

Appointed to the Board as Deputy Chairman in September 2005, Sir Tom is a non-executive director of BP p.l.c. and president of the Science Council.  He was formerly chief executive of AstraZeneca PLC, president of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations and chairman of British Pharma Group Limited.  He is a trustee of The Council for Industry and Higher Education. 

Non-executive Directors

Colin Buchan

Appointed to the Board in June 2002, Colin Buchan was educated in South Africa and spent the early part of his career in South Africa and the Far East.  He has considerable international investment banking experience, as well as experience in very large risk management in the equities business.  He was formerly a member of the group management board of UBS AG and head of equities of UBS Warburg and was the former chairman of UBS Securities Canada Inc.  He is a director of Standard Life plc and Chairman of Standard Life Investments Limited, Blackrock World Mining Trust Plc, Royal Scottish National Orchestra Society Limited and World Mining Investment Company Limited.

Jim Currie

Appointed to the Board in November 2001, Jim Currie is a highly experienced senior international civil servant who spent many years working in Brussels and Washington.  He was formerly director general at the European Commission with responsibility for the EU's environmental policy and director general for Customs and Excise and Indirect Taxation.  He is also a director of Total Upstream UK Limited, The Met Office and Vimetco N.V., as well as an international adviser to Eversheds LLP.

Bill Friedrich

Appointed to the Board in March 2006, Bill Friedrich is the former deputy chief executive of BG Group plc.  He previously served as general counsel for British Gas plc and is a former partner of Shearman & Sterling where he practised as a general corporate lawyer working for several of the world's leading financial institutions. 

Archie Hunter

Appointed to the Board in September 2004, Archie Hunter is a chartered accountant.  He was Scottish senior partner of KPMG between 1992 and 1999 and president of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland in 1997/1998.  He has extensive professional experience in the United Kingdom and North and South America.  He is currently chairman of Macfarlane Group plc, a director of Edinburgh US Tracker Trust plc and a governor of the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research.

Janis Kong

Appointed to the Board in January 2006, Janis Kong is currently a non-executive director of Kingfisher plc and Portmeirion Group public limited company.  She is also chairman of The Forum for the Future and a member of the board of Visit Britain.  She was previously executive chairman of Heathrow Airport Limited, chairman of Heathrow Express Limited and a director of BAA plc. 

Joe MacHale

Appointed to the Board in September 2004, Joe MacHale is currently the senior independent director and chairman of the audit committee of Morgan Crucible Company plc, a non-executive director and chairman of the remuneration committee of Brit Insurance Holdings PLC and a trustee of Macmillan Cancer Support.  He held a number of senior executive positions with JPMorgan between 1979 and 2001 and was latterly chief executive of JP Morgan Europe, Middle East and Africa Region.

Sir Steve Robson

Appointed to the Board in July 2001, Sir Steve is a former senior UK civil servant, who had responsibility for a wide variety of Treasury matters.  His early career included the post of private secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and secondment to ICFC (now 3i).  He was also a second permanent secretary of HM Treasury, where he was managing director of the Finance and Regulation Directorate.  He is a non-executive director of JPMorgan Cazenove Holdings, Xstrata plc and The Financial Reporting Council Limited and a member of the Chairman's Advisory Committee of KPMG.  He is a former director of Partnerships UK plc.

Bob Scott

Appointed to the Board in January 2001, Bob Scott is an Australian national.  He is the senior independent Director.  He has many years' experience in the international insurance business and played a leading role in the consolidation of the UK insurance industry. He is a former group chief executive of CGNU plc (now Aviva plc) and former chairman of the board of the Association of British Insurers.  He is chairman of Yell Group plc and a non-executive director of Swiss Reinsurance Company and Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc.  He is also a trustee of the Crimestoppers Trust, an adviser to Duke Street Capital Private Equity and a board member of Pension Insurance Corporation Holdings LLP.

Peter Sutherland

Appointed to the Board in January 2001, Peter Sutherland is an Irish national.  He is a former attorney general of Ireland and from 1985 to 1989 was the European Commissioner responsible for competition policy.  He is chairman of BP p.l.c. and Goldman Sachs International.  He was formerly chairman of Allied Irish Banks and director general of GATT and its successor, the World Trade Organisation.

Executive Directors

Sir Fred Goodwin 

Group Chief Executive

Appointed to the Board in August 1998, Sir Fred is a Chartered Accountant.  He was formerly chief executive and director, Clydesdale Bank PLC and Yorkshire Bank PLC.  He is chairman of The Prince's Trust, a non-executive director of Bank of China Limited and a former president of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland. 

Guy Whittaker

Group Finance Director

Appointed to the Board in February 2006, Guy Whittaker joined RBS after spending 25 years with Citigroup where he was formerly group treasurer based in New York, and prior to that had held a number of management positions within the financial markets business based in London. 

Johnny Cameron

Chairman, Global Markets

Appointed to the Board in March 2006, Johnny Cameron joined RBS from Dresdner Kleinwort Benson in 1998.  In 2000, he was appointed Deputy Chief Executive of Corporate Banking & Financial Markets (''CBFM'') with responsibility for the integration of the NatWest and RBS Corporate Banking businesses. In October 2001, he was appointed Chief Executive CBFM, now renamed Global Markets. 

Mark Fisher

Chairman, Managing Board, ABN AMRO

Appointed to the Board in March 2006, Mark Fisher is a career banker having joined National Westminster Bank Plc in 1981.  In 2000, he was appointed Chief Executive, Manufacturing with various responsibilities including the integration of RBS and NatWest systems platforms. Mark Fisher is Chief Executive Officer of ABN AMRO and was appointed Chairman of the Managing Board of ABN AMRO in November 2007. 

Gordon Pell

Chairman, Regional Markets

Appointed to the Board in March 2000, Gordon Pell was formerly group director of Lloyds TSB UK Retail Banking before joining National Westminster Bank Plc as a director in February 2000 and then becoming Chief Executive, Retail Banking.  He is also a director of Race for Opportunity and a member of the FSA Practitioner Panel.  He was appointed chairman of the Business Commission on Racial Equality in the Workplace in July 2006 and deputy chairman of the Board of the British Bankers' Association in September 2007.

 

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