HE is a surprise choice and a bold one.
New Zealander Ross McEwan, the man chosen to take over from Stephen Hester at the helm of RBS, is an unknown quantity as the chief executive of a major bank, having never run one before.
Nevertheless, the implications of his appointment are favourable. As the bank's retail banking boss for the last 12 months, it suggests an intention to focus on the operational side of the business and a desire to improve customer service, now that the more urgent business of tackling the bank's toxic debt is nearly at an end, following Stephen Hester's time in charge. Mr McEwan will take over at an auspicious moment, with the bank reporting a half-year pre-tax profit of £1.37bn.
As Mr Hester will no doubt warn him, the new chief executive will be working every day in a goldfish bowl. That scrutiny is justified, given the bank's history under Fred Goodwin of grandiose risk-taking and its subsequent bail-out by the taxpayer, but Mr McEwan deserves a period of calm to get to grips with the most demanding job in the British financial services industry.
Having previously worked in Australia, he has already brought a fresh broom to the company. As head of RBS's retail arm, he has apparently been dismayed by the standards in UK retail banking and shown determination to up RBS's game. He is ambitious to improve the standing of the bank with customers, one which, following the bank's collapse, became a byword in the public consciousness for rashness instead of prudence and corporate greed instead of probity.
Foregoing his bonuses for 2013 and 2014 is a wise decision. However, it is unlikely to move customers and taxpayers, who see no reason why bonuses should be so everyday an expectation in the banking industry. Nor will the fact that, with pay of £1m, he is coming in on £300,000 less than Stephen Hester receives, or that he could have earned more at another bank. The banking world's pay and bonus culture is widely regarded as out of kilter with reality by recession-battered taxpayers. It can hardly be argued with a straight face that the new chief executive is being hard done-by and in any case, he is still eligible to get a long-term incentive award in 2014 and will later move to a "commercial package" in line with the rest of the industry.
Mr McEwan's main task, the one he will be judged upon, will be moving the bank back into full private ownership. He is likely to need all of his strong people skills to manage the politics of the transition. Outgoing chief executive Stephen Hester had had a strained relationship with 11 Downing Street latterly; perhaps Mr McEwan will do better.
The company's share price must rise before the Government will sell its stake. With restructuring at the bank ongoing, there is some uncertainty over when that will happen and indeed the share price fell yesterday, underlining the fact that there is work still to be done.
It is likely to be this man, nevertheless, who finally draws this difficult period of RBS's history to a close.
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