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| Ross McEwan starts as new RBS chief with pledge to increase lending | Ross McEwan starts as new RBS chief with pledge to increase lending |
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| Ross McEwan began his first day as chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland with a pledge to increase the bailed out bank's lending to businesses and households. | Ross McEwan began his first day as chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland with a pledge to increase the bailed out bank's lending to businesses and households. |
| Replacing Stephen Hester, who left on Monday after nearly five years at the helm of the 81%-taxpayer owned bank, McEwan said: "I want RBS to stand firmly behind its customers with the explicit goal of helping them succeed. That includes an increase in our lending. We must do everything possible to support the recovery and future growth of the UK." | Replacing Stephen Hester, who left on Monday after nearly five years at the helm of the 81%-taxpayer owned bank, McEwan said: "I want RBS to stand firmly behind its customers with the explicit goal of helping them succeed. That includes an increase in our lending. We must do everything possible to support the recovery and future growth of the UK." |
| In a memo to staff to mark his first day in charge after promotion from running the retail bank, McEwan also said he would simplify the bank and make it easier to do business with customers. | In a memo to staff to mark his first day in charge after promotion from running the retail bank, McEwan also said he would simplify the bank and make it easier to do business with customers. |
| "I've been here for a year now, and it's clear to me that we have a greater obligation than any other bank to build a business that supports its customers. We were saved by the government five years ago because of how important we are to the everyday economy of the UK," he said. | "I've been here for a year now, and it's clear to me that we have a greater obligation than any other bank to build a business that supports its customers. We were saved by the government five years ago because of how important we are to the everyday economy of the UK," he said. |
| Hired by Hester a year ago to run the retail bank, McEwan made no reference to the ongoing review commissioned from Rothschild by the Treasury into whether RBS should be broken up into a good and bad bank. But he indicated that the bank would keep an international presence while retaining a UK focus. | |
| "A strong bank needs a strong home market, and the UK is ours. We are an international bank because our customers trade globally, but the UK is where the majority of our customers run businesses, create homes, build financial security for their families and put their ambition to work in multinational companies," he said. | "A strong bank needs a strong home market, and the UK is ours. We are an international bank because our customers trade globally, but the UK is where the majority of our customers run businesses, create homes, build financial security for their families and put their ambition to work in multinational companies," he said. |
| McEwan, a New Zealander, is being paid £1m a year in salary and is not taking an annual bonus for next year after the furore surrounding his predecessor's pay but will get awards of shares under a long-term incentive plan based on three years' performance. When he was recruited to run the retail bank, RBS gave him £3m in shares to buy him out of his deals at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. | McEwan, a New Zealander, is being paid £1m a year in salary and is not taking an annual bonus for next year after the furore surrounding his predecessor's pay but will get awards of shares under a long-term incentive plan based on three years' performance. When he was recruited to run the retail bank, RBS gave him £3m in shares to buy him out of his deals at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. |
| He started his first day in charge with a presentation to staff and then a visit to NatWest customers who run publishers and event organisers Listora, based in Shoreditch, London. | |
| McEwan has already said RBS will back the second phase of the government's Help to Buy programme designed to make it easier for customers will deposits of 5% of the value of a home to obtain a mortgage. | McEwan has already said RBS will back the second phase of the government's Help to Buy programme designed to make it easier for customers will deposits of 5% of the value of a home to obtain a mortgage. |
| "My aim is to make RBS one of the easiest banks to do business with," he said. | "My aim is to make RBS one of the easiest banks to do business with," he said. |
| RBS shares were trading at 363p as he took charge – well below the 500p average price at which the government amassed its 81% stake in the bank in 2008 and 2009. | RBS shares were trading at 363p as he took charge – well below the 500p average price at which the government amassed its 81% stake in the bank in 2008 and 2009. |
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