RBS finance chief to exit at end of September

ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS) has announced that chief financial officer Ewen Stevenson will step down at the end of September.

The state-owned bank first informed investors of Mr Stevenson’s exit in May, hours before its Edinburgh annual general meeting (AGM).

The bank is looking for a successor and has appointed Katie Murray, its deputy chief financial officer, as finance head in the interim.

RBS said Mr Stevenson will remain on the board until September 30 and will be on gardening leave until his employment ends on November 30.

Mr Stevenson’s long-term share awards will also terminate on his exit.

Mr Stevenson will be paid until November 30 and will not receive a remuneration payment in connection with his departure from the company.

The news comes after the US Department of Justice published damning documents detailing the attitudes of RBS bankers before the financial crisis.

The documents showed bankers at RBS admitted they were selling “total f ****** garbage” to investors.

The US authorities also revealed that employees made light of destroying the housing market in the lead-up to the financial crash.

RBS’ head trader received an email from a friend that said: “[I’m] sure your parents never imagine[d] they’d raise a son who [would] destroy the housing market in the richest nation on the planet.”

The head trader answered: “I take exception to the word ‘destroy.’ I am more comfortable with ‘severely damage’.”

The Department of Justice estimates RBS underwrote and issued mortgage-backed securities that have so far resulted in losses worth more than US$49bn (£38bn), and forecasts another $5.6bn (£4.4bn) will be lost.

While RBS has agreed to pay a $4.9bn (£3.8bn) fine to the Department of Justice, it disputes and has not admitted the allegations put forward by American authorities.