UK Financial Investments, the body that manages the taxpayer’s stakes in the bailed-out banks, suffered fresh management upheaval today when the respected banker responsible for the shares in Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland resigned.
UK Financial Investments, the body that manages the taxpayer’s stakes in the bailed-out banks, suffered fresh management upheaval today when the respected banker responsible for the shares in Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland resigned.
The sudden departure of John Crompton, a former Merrill Lynch banker, follows the appointment of Robin Budenberg as the new chief executive – a role that he had been considered for – to replace John Kingman, the Treasury mandarin who has joined Rothschild.
As head of market investments, Crompton would have played a key role in deciding when to recommend to the government to sell shares in either bank. He would also have played a crucial role in the forthcoming bonus round at RBS after a gruelling end to 2009, when Lloyds managed to convince the Treasury to pour money into the bank’s shares to help it raise a record-breaking £23bn to exit the Asset Protection Scheme.
The issue of RBS bonuses will re-surface when the bank’s chief executive, Stephen Hester, is expected to be forced to defend the need to make payouts when he appears in front of the Treasury select committee.
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