RBS share price: Williams & Glyn management to step down

The management team of Royal Bank of Scotland Group’s (LON:RBS) Williams & Glyn unit is stepping down, Reuters has reported. The move comes after the bailed-out lender scrapped a plan to sell the division, having hit a series of setbacks in the process.

RBS’ share price has jumped in today’s session having added 1.07 percent to 238.93p as of 13:57 BST, outperforming the broader London market, with the benchmark FTSE 100 index currently standing 0.32 percent higher at 7,345.29 points. The group’s shares have gained more than 13 percent over the past year, and are up by some six percent in the year-to-date.
Reuters reported today that according to an internal memo sent to staff, Jim Brown, W&G’s chief executive for the last two years, was set to step down next month. Other senior managers at the division, including its finance chief Leigh Bartlett, chief operating officer Chris Davis and chief risk officer Rick Hunkin, are also leaving. Paul Fox, the managing director of retail and business banking at the unit, will step up to head the remaining team.

The news comes after RBS scrapped plans to sell W&G, an EU condition of its taxpayer-funded bailout during the financial crisis. The British government recently asked Brussels to free the group from the obligation to offload the business by the end of the year, proposing alternative measures. The European Commission announced yesterday that it had opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether the alternative plan is an appropriate replacement for the lender’s commitment to sell W&G.
“Jim Brown and the senior team that supported him were brought in to create a standalone challenger bank” Reuters quoted RBS as saying in a statement today. “As this is no longer happening, Jim and some members of the existing executive team will be leaving.”
As of 14:46 BST, Wednesday, 05 April, Royal Bank of Scotland Group share price is 240.40p.