By Max Colchester
LONDON-- Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC is close to appointing
a Credit Suisse AG investment banker as its next chief financial
officer, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The appointment of Ewen Stevenson, who advised on the bailout of
the 81% government-owned RBS, still needs to be approved by U.K.
regulator Prudential Regulation Authority, the person said.
Mr. Stevenson didn't return a call for comment. The New Zealand
native, is currently the co-head of Credit Suisse's investment
banking department for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
RBS's next CFO will join a management group grappling with some
steep challenges. The bank, which received a GBP45.5 billion
bailout from the U.K. government, continues to report significant
losses, and chief executive officer Ross McEwan recently unveiled a
five year plan to focus the business on the U.K. and cut GBP5
billion in costs. RBS is also planning to unload its U.S. retail
banking unit RBS Citizens--the bank has targeted an initial public
offering of some Citizens shares, though management is also
exploring the possibility of selling the U.S. unit too. Its plans
were complicated last week when Citizens failed the Federal
Reserve's "stress test," which some observers said would likely
delay a listing.
RBS has been searching for a new CFO since December when Nathan
Bostock resigned to become the chief executive officer of the U.K.
unit of Spain's Banco Santander SA. Mr. Bostock is currently
serving a one year notice period at RBS.
Sky News first reported the likely appointment of Mr.
Stevenson.
Margot Patrick contributed to this article.
Write to Max Colchester at max.colchester@wsj.com
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