Our Board

Our board approves the strategy across the group and monitors performance. It has adopted a formal schedule of matters detailing key aspects of the company's affairs and this schedule is reviewed annually.

Management Structure

Corporate Governance

1. Chairman
2. Executive Directors
3. Non-Executive Directors
4. Group Secretary

• Chairman

  Philip Hampton

  N

  

  Appointed to the Board as Deputy Chairman on 19 January 2009, and to the position of Chairman on 3 February 2009, Philip has held the position of chairman of J Sainsbury plc since 2004.

  Previously, he was group finance director of Lloyds TSB Group plc from 2002 to 2004, group finance director of BT Group plc from 2000 to 2002, group finance director of BG Group plc from 1997 to 2000, group finance director of British Gas plc from 1995 to 1997, group finance director of British Steel plc from 1990 to 1995, an executive director of Lazards from 1981 to 1990 and a non-executive director of RMC Group plc from 2002 to 2005.

  Philip is the former chairman of UK Financial Investments Limited, the company established to manage the UK Government's shareholding in banks subscribing to its recapitalisation fund, and has also been a non-executive director of Belgacom SA (the Belgian telecom group) since 2004. Philip joined the Board of Anglo American plc as a non-executive director in November 2009.

  Back to top

• Executive Directors

  Group Chief Executive

  Stephen Hester

  (49)

  

  Appointed to the Board on 1 October 2008, and to the position of Group Chief Executive on 21 November 2008. Stephen Hester was chief executive of The British Land Company PLC. He was previously chief operating officer of Abbey National plc and prior to that he held positions with Credit Suisse First Boston including chief financial officer, head of fixed income and co-Head of European Investment Banking. In February 2008, he was appointed non-executive deputy chairman of Northern Rock PLC, a position he relinquished on 1 October 2008. He is also a trustee of The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Foundation.

  Back to top

  Group Finance Director

  Bruce van Saun

  (53)

  

  Appointed to the Board in October 2009, Bruce Van Saun has more than 25 years of financial services experience. From 1997-2008 he held a number of senior positions with Bank of New York and later Bank of New York Mellon, most recently as Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer and before that responsible for the Asset Management and Market Related businesses. Prior to that, he held senior positions with Deutsche Bank, Wasserstein Perella Group and Kidder Peabody & Co. Since 2008 he worked as an advisor to US Private Equity companies.
  
  Bruce has an MBA in Finance/General Management from the University of North Carolina along with a BSBA from Bucknell University.

  Back to top

• Non-Executive Directors

  Colin Buchan*

  (55)

  A, N, Ri

  

  Appointed to the Board in June 2002, Colin Buchan was educated in South Africa and spent the early part of his career in South Africa and the Far East. He has considerable international investment banking experience, as well as experience in very large risk management in the equities business. He was formerly a member of the group management board of UBS AG and head of equities of UBS Warburg, and was the former chairman of UBS Securities Canada Inc.

  He is chairman of Standard Life Investments Limited and a director of Standard Life plc and Black Rock World Mining Trust Plc. Colin is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Scotland.

  Back to top

  Sir Sandy Crombie*

  (61)

  N, R, Ri

  

  Sir Sandy Crombie retired from the position of group chief executive of Standard Life plc on 31st December 2009, after 43 years service with the Company. He held a number of senior positions in Actuarial, IT and Operations divisions before becoming chief executive of Standard Life Investments Limited when it was launched in 1998 and then group chief executive in 2004. He was a director of the Association of British Insurers, a member of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's High Level Group, and latterly served on the Chancellor's Insurance Industry Working Group.

  He received a knighthood for services to the insurance industry in Scotland in the 2009 New Year's honours list.

  Sandy joined the Board as Senior Independent Director in June 2009. He is also chair of Creative Scotland, chairman of the Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust, vice chairman of the Board of Governors of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and president of the Cockburn Association. In 2007, he was the Prince of Wales Ambassador for Corporate Social Responsibility in Scotland.

  Back to top

  Penny Hughes

  (51)

  R (Chair), N

  

  Penny Hughes joined the Board on 1 January 2010 and is currently a non-executive director of Home Retail Group plc and Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC and formerly a non-executive director of Gap Inc, Vodafone PLC and Reuters PLC. Penny chairs the Remuneration Committee of Home Retail Group and chairs Cable & Wireless Worldwide Audit Committee.

  Penny was a director and chairman of the Remuneration Committee of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB ("SEB") until she stepped down on 20 October 2009. Penny spent the majority of her executive career at Coca-Cola where she held a number of leadership positions during the merger of Coca-Cola and Schweppes in the UK. In 1992 she was appointed as President, Coca-Cola Great Britain and Ireland. She is also a Trustee of the British Museum and President of the Advertising Association. Penny joined the board of WM Morrisons Supermarkets PLC on 1 January 2010.

  Back to top

  Joe MacHale*

  (59)

  N, Ri

  

  Appointed to the Board in September 2004, Joe MacHale is currently a non-executive director and chairman of the remuneration committee of Brit Insurance Holdings plc, and a trustee and treasurer of MacMillan Cancer Support. He held a number of senior executive positions with J P Morgan between 1979 and 2001 and was latterly chief executive of J P Morgan Europe, Middle East and Africa Region. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and the chairman of Prytania Holdings LLP.

  Back to top

  John McFarlane*

  (63)

  R, N

  

  Appointed to the Board on 1 October 2008, John McFarlane is former chief executive officer of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited. Previously he was a group executive director of Standard Chartered and was head of Citicorp/Citibank in the UK and Ireland. He is currently a non-executive director of Westfield Holdings Limited and a director of Old Oak Holdings Limited. He is a former president of the International Monetary Conference and a former chairman of the Australian Bankers Association. He has previously served as a director of the London Stock Exchange and a member of the Auditing Practices Board.

  Back to top

  Brendan Nelson*

  (60)

  A (Chair), Ri, N

  

  Brendan Nelson was appointed to the Board on 1 April 2010. Brendan became global chairman, Banking for KPMG in 1999 and became global chairman, Financial Services in 2002. He has held a range of senior leadership roles within KPMG including as a member of the KPMG UK board from 1999 until 2006 and as vice chairman from 2006.

  Brendan had overall responsibility for the Financial Services practice worldwide, which is the largest specialised industry group with KPMG and provides audit, tax, consulting and regulatory advisory services for a large range of organisations in every sector of the financial services industry.

  He has been a board member of the Financial Services Skills Council since 2008 and was chairman of the Audit Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland from 2005 until 2008.

  Back to top

  Arthur (Art) Ryan*

  (67)

  N

  

  Appointed to the Board on 1 October 2008, Arthur Ryan is the former chairman, chief executive officer and president of Prudential Financial Inc. Previously he held senior positions with Prudential Insurance and the former Chase Manhattan Bank NA. He is currently a non-executive director of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and an active member of numerous community boards. He was a founding member of the Financial Services Forum.

  Back to top

  Philip Scott*

  (55)

  Ri (Chair), A, N

  

  Appointed to the Board on 1 November 2009, Philip Scott has wide-ranging experience of financial services and risk management, including previous responsibility for Aviva's continental European and international life and long-term savings businesses. He has held a number of senior executive positions during his career at Aviva, including his role as Group Finance Director until January 2010. Philip is also an experienced Non-executive Director and is currently on the board of Diageo plc.

  Back to top

• Group Secretary

  Aileen Taylor

  (37)

  

  Aileen Taylor assumed the role of Group Secretary in May 2010 and provides secretariat and corporate governance advice and support to the Group Board and its Senior Committees.

  Aileen joined RBS in 2000.  She was appointed Deputy Group Secretary and Head of Group Secretariat in 2007, and prior to that held various legal, secretariat and risk roles including Head of External Risk, Retail; Head of Regulatory Risk, Retail Direct; and Head of Legal and Compliance at Direct Line Financial Services.

  Aileen is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland and a Fellow of the Industry and Parliament Trust.

  Back to top

Management Structure