(11 May 2009 – Global) Brian Hartzer, the recently resigned head of the Australian operations of ANZ, has found a place to kick start his international banking career as part of a newly designed RBS executive team.Hartzer has been appointed to take over from Gordon Pell as head of retail, wealth and Ulster Bank at RBS.
The hiring of Hartzer means that RBS will have an entirely brand new executive team to replace the team that led the bank into being taken under Government control.
Stephen Hester, the new chief executive officer for RBS since last November, has added Hartzer to his new management team, which is intended to manage RBS out of state ownership.
Hester, who replaced Sir Fred Goodwin in the top job, said that he was pleased to have been able to move rapidly to assemble a strong leadership team.
Hester added that the journey to standalone strength is a three-to-five-year one, with tough restructuring to execute against an inclement economic backdrop. He is, however, confident that the team assembled, including Hartzer, has the ability to do the job.
Only one executive is missing from the new team, the replacement for Guy Whittaker, the chief financial officer, who has announced plans to leave by October.
Pell’s severance reward brings the total for the five most senior departing executives from RBS in pensions and severance payments to £55 million, including a £17 million pension for the departing chief executive.