LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland (L:RBS) announced on Wednesday that the team managing its Williams & Glyn division of branches are leaving after the bank abandoned its seven-year-old plan to sell it to meet regulatory obligations.
Jim Brown, the chief executive of the Williams & Glyn division for the last two years, will step down next month, according to an internal memo sent to staff.
Other senior managers at Williams & Glyn including its Chief Financial Officer Leigh Bartlett, Chief Operating Officer Chris Davis and Chief Risk Officer Rick Hunkin, are also leaving.
Paul Fox, the managing director of retail and business banking at Williams & Glyn, will step up to head the remaining team, the memo said.
The British government earlier this year asked the European Commission to free RBS from its obligation to create a challenger bank for small businesses, one of the conditions set by the EU for approving its state rescue in 2008, and instead proposed alternative measures to meet its obligations.
"Jim Brown and the senior team that supported him were brought in to create a standalone challenger bank," RBS said in a statement. "As this is no longer happening, Jim and some members of the existing executive team will be leaving."
European regulators originally ordered the sale of the unit to prevent RBS from having an unfair advantage after receiving the world's biggest bank bailout at the height the 2007-2009 global financial crisis.