RBS chairman sees progress

19th Apr 2011 14:10

Royal Bank of Scotland is well on its way to becoming an "opportunity" for its shareholders, including the UK government, rather than a "problem", the bailed-out bank's chairman Philip Hampton said at the annual meeting today.An announcement from RBS quoted him as saying that, halfway through the bank's turnaround plan, its businesses are "shaping up" and the recovery is "underway.""We have made particular progress on reducing risk and refocusing the group," Hampton said."There is still a lot of work to do and many obstacles to overcome, but we are on track to meet our ambitious goals."Having launched a five-year plan when the company was "on its knees" two years ago, the plan is on track, according to Hampton. Corporate and retail businesses did well in a challenging market in 2010 and Irish operation Ulster Bank is beginning to turn around after a "difficult year."Hampton's prepared statement also addressed the interim report of the Independent Commission on Banking (ICB) that was released last week. It said that "it seems inevitable that customers and shareholders will be impacted by additional costs."The ICB said banks' retail operations should be separated from their investment banking arms. The ICB accuses banks of taking excessive risks in the run-up to the financial crisis, with government guarantees encouraging banks to behave more recklessly. RBS posted net losses that were twice as bad as expected for 2010, but still triggered public outrage by paying bosses hefty bonuses. ---RG