Saturday 02 March 2019 3:32 pm | Updated: Monday 03 June 2019 1:30 am

Former RBS executive John Hourican to return to UK as NewDay CEO

Former Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) executive, John Hourican is set to return to UK and join credit card company NewDay as chief executive.

NewDay is a consumer finance firm that runs co-branded credit cards with retail giants like Debenhams, Amazon and Sir Philip Green's Arcadia Group.

Hourican is close to making his return to the UK and will leave his role at the Bank of Cyrpus, which he has run since the end of 2013, with the appointment expected to be made in the next few days, according to Sky News.

It comes just over six years after he was effectively pushed out of RBS by former chancellor of the exechequer, George Osborne, who got the lender's board to make a public scapegoat for its £390m of Libor-related financial penalties.

Hourican suffered millions of pounds of losses in pay while his reputation was also hit despite not being personally implicated in any wrongdoing.

UK financial regulators have reportedly given the appointment at NewDay the green-light, say Sky News.

His return to the UK suggests another step toward NewDay being publicly listed after it was bought by Cinven and CVC Capital Partners in January 2017.

A decision on whether to pursue an initial public offering is likely to be between six and 18 months away, while it is also possible the company could be sold.

NewDay has been touted as a potential suitor for Provident Financial, which received a hostile takeover bid last from Non-Standard Finance.

A stock market flotation could see the company valued at around £1.5bn, based on its current business trajectory, Sky News sources claim.

NewDay has more than four and a half million accounts and as as of the end of June last, had credit card receivables standing at £2.3bn.