RBS 2013 Annual Report Download - page 24

Chairman’s
statement
Philip Hampton
Chairman
“ We are confident that
the actions announced
will deliver a customer-
focused bank.”
Five years ago RBS embarked on a strategic
restructuring designed to correct the aspects
of its business that made it particularly
vulnerable to the financial crisis of 2008.
The execution of that restructuring has
transformed the financial position of the
bank: we have reduced our balance sheet
by more than £1 trillion, repaid hundreds of
billions of Government funding support and
removed the imminent threat that our size, risk
and complexity posed to the UK economy.
In 2013 we took further steps to resolve our
remaining legacy balance sheet issues by
announcing the creation of RCR, with the aim
of accelerating the removal of these legacy
assets and releasing the capital they are still
tying up.
We have also taken very substantial charges
for a variety of conduct-related issues,
including LIBOR, PPI, interest rate swaps and
RMBS litigation. Almost all of these costs for
RCR and conduct issues can properly be
described as legacy costs, arising from events
and actions in the run-up to the financial crisis.
As our 2013 results make clear, however,
restoring the strength of the bank’s balance
sheet was only one part of the job. In June the
Board announced that Stephen Hester, who
had led our financial restructuring since 2008
very effectively, would be stepping down as
Group Chief Executive. We selected Ross
McEwan to re-energise the task of building a
bank that earns its customers’ trust, improves
operating efficiency and can move down the
path back to full private ownership. The Board
and I want to thank Stephen Hester for his
dedication to RBS and to congratulate him on
his success in putting the bank on to a sound
footing.
There have been a number of other changes
to the Board’s composition during the year.
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