Financial News: RBS Names First Chmn Of New Banking Committee

16th Jul 2010 11:19

By Matt Turner Of FINANCIAL NEWS Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS) has appointed a former Credit Suisse Securities board member to act as the first chairman of its investment banking committee, a newly-formed business forum designed to ensure senior executives are on board with large and complex deals. Hamish Leslie Melville will be joining RBS as chairman of the investment banking committee, according to an internal memo seen by Financial News. Melville has more than 35 years experience in the financial services industry, and previously chaired the investment banking committee at Credit Suisse. He will report into Marco Mazzucchelli, a former colleague at Credit Suisse who is now global head of banking and deputy chief executive of global banking and markets at RBS. The memo said the committee would act as "an important, new business selection forum in global banking and markets that secures senior executive buy-in to large and/or complex transactions." The committee will include representatives from across the business. Melville will take up his role in October. Mazzucchelli said: "Hamish brings with him valuable insight and experience which will make RBS's investment banking committee a more efficient and effective decision-making forum." Since the financial crisis - which was exacerbated for RBS by the acquisition of ABN Amro in mid-2007 in a multi-billion dollar deal which was seen as the root of its problems - the bank has radically restructured its investment banking unit. The bank was forced to announce billions of dollars in write-downs over the course of the financial crisis, and is now 83%-owned by the U.K. Government following a bailout. Following a strategic review, the U.K. bank discontinued all illiquid proprietary trading activities and correlation trading in equity and credit markets, and scaled back structured real estate, leveraged finance and project finance. The newly structured business, which is focused on core strengths around loans, bonds, foreign exchange, rates, and equities, delivered strongly in the first quarter of this year. Operating profits at the global banking and markets arm more than halved in the first quarter from a year before to GBP1.5 billion (EUR1.7 billion), but were more than two-thirds higher than in the fourth quarter last year, with group chief executive Stephen Hester saying progress at the investment bank has been pleasing. Hester said: "GBM was radically restructured 15 months ago and is the area with greatest people retention challenges, so we are pleased with progress in this important division." Web site: www.efinancialnews.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 16, 2010 06:19 ET (10:19 GMT)