NatWest told to hire new boss ahead of share sale

NATWEST has been urged to provide ‘clarity’ about its next chief executive ahead of a public share sale, which could come as soon as June.

The state-backed lender is led by Paul Thwaite, who was appointed as interim boss for a 12-month term last July after Dame Alison Rose had to quit as a result of a de-banking scandal involving former Ukip leader Nigel Farage.

The bank is hunting for a permanent successor for Rose.

But that could complicate the timing of a ‘Tell Sid’ 1980s-style share sale that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is planning as the Treasury tries to dispose of some of the 35pc of the bank that it still holds.

Charles Donald, chief executive of UK Government Investments (UKGI), the Government body that oversees the taxpayer stake in the lender, told MPs that Natwest had yet to make ‘any statements to the market on how they’re taking the process forward’ on a boss.

Donald was asked by Harriett Baldwin, chairman of the Treasury select committee, whether it would be ‘very difficult’ to launch the sale without a permanent boss in place.

‘They need to provide clarity to the market on their proposals around either confirming the interim chief executive or a process around appointing a permanent chief executive for the market to be comfortable, yes,’ he said. Holger Vieten, a director at UKGI, said that the share sale ‘potentially could happen’ in June. It will be the latest episode in the Government’s efforts to sell down its holding in Natwest – formerly Royal Bank of Scotland – after its £45bn bail-out in the 2008 financial crisis.