RBS closes in on first female chief executive

THE boss of taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland is standing down – paving the way for the High Street lender to get its first female head.

Ross McEwan is leaving after six years in charge of RBS.

The favourite to succeed him is Alison Rose, its 49-year-old commercial and private banking chief.

If Rose wins the leadership battle she would be the first woman to run a so-called Big Four lender in a landmark moment for the industry.

She would serve alongside current finance director Katie Murray, making them the first all-female team at the head of of a global bank.

McEwan, 61, has not yet got another job lined up, but hinted he may move back to his native New Zealand. He said: ‘ We will keep our connections up here – our daughter and her husband and my grandson are staying up here. I’ve no thoughts about what I will do next.’

McEwan leaves Natwest owner RBS in better shape that he found it when he took charge in 2013.

At the time it was still battling its way towards stability after helping to cause the financial crisis through reckless over-expansion.

McEwan’s predecessor Stephen Hester had faced criticism for his massive bonus payments while presiding over IT meltdowns and cutbacks.

After taking over, McEwan led a massive restructuring drive which saw RBS pull out of 26 countries, axe 42,000 jobs and slash assets from more than £1trillion to £694bn.

He also oversaw hundreds of branch closures, sparking fury from critics who claim this has devastated rural towns and villages and made it hard for vulnerable people to access basic services. RBS made losses of £8.8bn in the first three years of McEwan’s time in charge.

But he brought it back to profit in 2017 for the first time since the financial crisis, and the lender has remained in the black since.

Shares under McEwan have fallen 30pc – although much of this movement is thought to be due to the performance of the global economy, uncertainty over Brexit and other factors beyond the bank’s control. McEwan – who was not in charge of RBS at the time of the worst behaviour – set up a £400m compensation scheme but has been accused by some alleged victims of doing too little. Last night he said the worst of the bank’s problems are behind it and his successor should focus on providing the best possible customer service. Born into a military family, Rose pictured) travelled the world while growing up before coming home to England aged 15. The mother-of-two wrote a report earlier this year arguing more must be done to help female entrepreneurs.