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RBS steps up the search for a new chairman

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Royal Bank of Scotland has reportedly stepped up its search for a successor to chairman Sir Philip Hampton, hiring recruitment giant Egon Zehnder International to lead the hunt.

Hampton will step down in 2015 after more than six years at the top of the bank, which is still 81 per cent owned by the government, during which he has overseen RBS' partial recovery after its 2008 bailout.

Sky News reported the search is being led by former Standard Life boss Sir Sandy Crombie, although the Treasury and the government's asset management arm, UK Financial Investments, will both influence the final decision.

RBS also published a half-yearly report this morning showing it has returned to the black, posting an operating profit of €61m (£48.4m) for the first half of the year, compared with a €56m loss in 2013 with major cost-cutting offsetting a drop in revenues. 

Total income fell 13 per cent to €255m in the six months to 30 June, compared with €293m last year, but operating expenses fell by nearly a third (31 per cent) to €211m, thanks to a reduction in “both staff and non-staff costs”, though a litigation settlement did partially offset this. 
 
Net interest income fell to €106m to €127m as a result. Fees and commissions also fell from €73m in 2013 to €30m in 2014. 
 
RBS' total assets have decreased by €3.9bn to around €36bn primarily as a result of planned balance sheet reductions.  
 
The bank has outlined a number of ongoing litigation that could hurt its bottom line in future, including a suit by Irving Pickard, trustee for the bankruptcy estates of Bernard Madoff, and a case relating to the manipulation of Libor. 
 
In February, the bank agreed to pay $275m (£164m) in cash to settle a US class action lawsuit over mortgage-backed securities. 
 
It was fined £15m earlier this week for mortgage advice failings.