Royal Bank of Scotland selects a new leader
LONDON— Stephen Hester reported his last set of results for bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland Friday as he prepares to hand over the reins to New Zealander Ross McEwan.
The state-controlled bank recorded a firsthalf profit of $811 million, compared with a loss of $3.1 billion in the same period of last year.
RBS on Friday named McEwan, a 56year-old native of New Zealand, as chief executive effective Oct. 1.
Hester, 52, became chief in October 2008, after the government rescued the bank with a $71 billion capital injection. Fred Goodwin, Hester’s predecessor, brought the bank to near-collapse after an aggressive global expansion, which included the ill-fated purchase of Dutch lender ABN Amro.
RBS is the parent of Citizens Bank.