Early departure for bank chief

The chairman of part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland stepped down two months early today.

Tom McKillop – originally due to retire in April – brought forward his departure to allow successor Philip Hampton to complete an overhaul of the troubled bank’s board.

RBS is set to be 70% owned by taxpayers after a year of financial turmoil which could leave it as much as £28bn (€31bn) in the red, due to bad debts and write-downs on the value of past acquisitions.