RBS picks a second Australian banking boss for its retail arm
ROYAL BANK of Scotland has once again turned to the Australian banking sector to recruit a boss to lead its UK retail banking arm.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) said yesterday its group executive of retail banking, Ross McEwan, has resigned and will join RBS to replace Brian Hartzer, who was hired from another Australian bank – ANZ – in 2009.
Hartzer, whose resignation had already been announced, leaves next month and has been lured back to his native Australia this summer to take charge of Westpac’s retail operations.
McEwan, a New Zealander, has run CBA’s retail operations since 2007, when he joined from New Zealand’s ASB group.
His departure comes after he was considered a frontrunner in the race to become chief executive of CBA last year, only to lose out to Ian Narev.
“His leadership of retail banking services has led to all-time highs in customer satisfaction, a strong performance for shareholders and a high level of people engagement,” Narev said in a statement yesterday.
McEwan will be stepping into his role at a crucial time as the state-own bank shifts its focus away from investment banking to concentrate on its retail and commercial operations.
Its retail arm, which also trades as NatWest on the high street, has 19m customers and made an operating profit of £2bn in 2011.