Royal Bank of Scotland’s CFO Ewen Stevenson resigned yesterday to “take up an opportunity elsewhere”, fuelling speculation about the lender’s future leadership as the UK government prepares to start selling its majority stake.

Stevenson, who had been considered a potential successor to RBS chief executive Ross McEwan, announced his departure hours before a fractious annual meeting with shareholders.

On March 9 Financial Director asked Stevenson what success would be for him. “Having completed the turnaround, having executed a successful privatisation, having restored trust with our customers and communities,” he replied.

Asked whether he and McEwan were committed to seeing through the sale of the nationalised 71 per cent of the bank, he said: “We’re both committed to seeing it through”.

Asked if he’d ever thought his work was done at RBS, he said: “No work is really done given the amount of stuff we’ve still got to get through”.

Make of that what you will.

(The full interview is at https://www.financialdirector.co.uk/2018/04/16/rbs-cfo-reversing-greatest-banking-disaster/)