RBS poaches Tapner of UBS to head wealth management
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has hired Rory Tapner to head its wealth management arm just as flagship private banking arm Coutts faces a regulatory probe into sales of a savings product.
Tapner joins from Swiss bank UBS where he was chairman and chief executive of the Asia-Pacific businesses. He is also a former global head of investment banking and head of equity capital markets at UBS. Tapner will fill a post left vacant by John Baines, who resigned in February.
The Financial Services Authority, is probing sales by Coutts of a savings product to wealthy clients. Last week RBS reported first-half earnings that showed operating profit dropped 32 per cent from a year earlier as lower interest income and rising costs hit the bottom line. An exodus of bankers from the Asian business had caused some loss of clients and assets under management in the international business.
However, in a recent interview the head of Coutts’ international business, RBS Coutts, said most of the bankers had been replaced.
RBS retail chief executive Brian Hartzer said: “Rory Tapner is a highly experienced addition to the RBS senior management team.”