Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (LON:RBS) has confirmed the appointment of Katie Murray as its new finance chief, becoming the first woman to hold the role at the state-owned bank.
Murray, 49, has been finance chief on an interim basis since September when Ewen Stevenson left to join HSBC Holdings PLC (LON:HSBA).
The announcement means there is a chance RBS could become the first big high street UK bank to have an all-female executive leadership.
Alison Rose expected to become next RBS CEO
Alison Rose, 49, was promoted to deputy chief executive of the high street lending division last month and is tipped to replace Ross McEwan as chief executive when he retires. McEwan is expected to step down in 2020.
READ: RBS's dividend signals a return to strong dividend growth for banks but elsewhere profit warnings are a concern
Previous to joining RBS in 2015, Murray was the finance director of Old Mutual Emerging Markets, based in Johannesburg. In her new role as finance chief, she could earn up to £3mln next year, including salary and bonuses.
During her time at RBS, Murray has played a key role in major projects for the bank, including its pledge in April to pay £3.5bn into its pension fund to remove risk from the defined benefit scheme. She also assisted in the bank’s separation of its retail operations from the rest of the group to meet ringfencing rules.
Murray to help RBS return to private ownership
Murray is now expected to take the reins on the continued sale of the government’s stake in RBS when she officially begins as finance chief on January 1.
The government still owns a 62.4% stake in RBS following its £40bn bailout of the lender in 2008 during the height of the financial crisis. In June, the government sold a 7.7% holding in RBS, marking the first time the shares have been sold since the summer of 2015 when chancellor Philip Hammond predecessor George Osborne was forced to defend the sale of a first tranche at a loss of about £1bn.
The decision to restart the government share sale came after RBS posted its first annual profit in 10 years in February. RBS resumed dividend payments in August after drawing a line under the last of its major litigation issues by paying a US$4.9bn penalty to the US Department of Justice over the mis-selling of toxic mortgage bonds in the lead up to the financial crisis.
The next offloading of shares is likely to be accompanied by a change in the register of owners of RBS with more British fund managers showing interest in the bank since it started paying dividends again. RBS is expected to set up dividend payments next year.
Sir Howard Davies, chairman of RBS, said: “Katie brings nearly 30 years of finance and accounting experience in capital management, investor relations and financial planning to the role. She has already contributed significantly to RBS over the last three years as the bank has resolved its last major legacy issues, returned to profit and restarted paying dividends.”