As per recent announcement made by National Australia Bank, one of the four largest financial institutions in Australia, the firm has hired former RBS head Ross Mc Ewan to serve as it’s now CEO. As per the statement, his official designation at the bank is Chief Executive Office and Managing Director. Prior to joining National Australia Bank, he served as Chief Executive Office of Royal Bank of Scotland for nearly six years. During his tenure as CEO of RBS, he played an instrumental role in the bank’s recovery from multi-billion dollar loss which it saw back in 2016 fuelled by Brexit woes, diving revenues from UK and UK workforce cut. Post the announcement of earnings report, he implemented a four year long cost-cutting strategy which was estimated at nearly US$2.5 billion which is currently under progress and played major role in bank’s recovery. However, this is not his first rodeo to Australian financial industry as Mc Ewan is a New-Zealand born finance industry veteran and was an executive in some of major Australian bank, most notably Commonwealth Bank of Australia before he left to work for Scottish bank.
He left Australia back in 2012 to join RBS as the Chief Executive officer of its UK retail business unit. While at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, he served as an Executive General and Group Executive for its retail banking division. While his role as CEO of National Australia Bank has been confirmed, he is not taking up his new role immediately. He will continue to serve as CEO of RBA until April 2020 during which he is expected to ensure smooth transition of role to his successor and close up/cut ties with ongoing projects. However, his new role as CEO of NAB is still subject to regulatory approval. Ross will join NAB with a rolling contract which suggests that either party can terminate ties with the each other at any time after posting a notification of same 26 weeks in advance. Speaking about appointment of Ross Mc Ewan to role of CEO, Philip Chronican who is serving as Interim CEO commented, “Ross Mc Ewan is the ideal leader for NAB as we seek to transform our operations and culture firmly around leading customer service, experience and products”
Phillip also stated, “Ross brings a compelling range of experience across finance, insurance and investment with a track record of delivering important and practical improvements for customers. RBS has been through many of the same challenges which NAB now faces around culture, trust and reputation”. Now that a new CEO has been appointed, Dr Ken Henry who is currently served as group Chairman will resign from his role and will be succeeded by Philip Chronican as early as mid-November 2019. Speaking about his new role at NAB, Ross commented, “It is a privilege to return to Australia and lead NAB at a crucial time for the bank, its customers, employees, shareholders and the broader community. There are a number of areas where NAB can extend its lead, such as business banking, agriculture and health, and other areas where I believe we should consistently lead such as customer service. We must also meet and exceed the expectations of our many stakeholders”.
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