DAVID Thorburn, the former chief executive of Clydesdale Bank, is planning a private sector comeback after stepping down from his role with the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA), writes Scott Wright. His term had been due to end on August 31.

The PRA, which oversees the financial services sector, said the veteran banker has resigned from the Prudential Regulation Committee with a “view to returning to the private sector”. Mr Thorburn has been a member of the committee since September 2015when it was the PRA board, joining after departing the top job at Clydesdale & Yorkshire banks. He was replaced at Clydesdale by former Allied Irish Banks’ chief executive David Duffy, who subsequently steered the bank’s de-merger from National Australia Bank and stock market flotation in 2016.

Mr Thorburn, who spent 26 years in retail and commercial banking before joining the PRA, said: “It has been a privilege to serve alongside my colleagues, first on the PRA Board and then the PRC, during the final stages of implementing the post-crisis reforms in banking and insurance. I am confident that the PRA’s forward looking, judgement-based approach focussed on the key risks is the right one. I have greatly enjoyed playing my part in putting that approach into practice.”