UKFI chief could join RBS as head of strategy – report

The executive who has spent the last two years managing UK taxpayers’ stake in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) could be set to join RBS as its head of strategy, according to a Sky News report.

Oliver Holbourn, who recently stepped down as chief executive of UK Financial Investments (UKFI), is said to be in talks with RBS about the role.

UKFI is the agency set up during the financial crisis to manage the UK public’s stakes in Britain’s bailed-out banks at arm’s length from the Treasury.

Holbourn would replace Richard Kibble as the bank’s head of strategy, a role which will involve efforts to make RBS a more attractive investment for institutional investors.

UK Chancellor Philip Hammond has indicated that selling more of the taxpayer’s 71% stake in RBS is off the agenda until RBS reaches a multibillion-pound settlement with the US Department of Justice over the misselling of mortgage-backed securities.