Proactive Investors - NatWest Group PLC (LON:NWG) used its full-year results statement to unveil the successor to ousted chief executive, Dame Alison Rose.
As widely trailed, the high street bank has named insider Paul Thwaite to the role.
His appointment came alongside better-than-expected 2023 figures with NatWest posting a 20% increase in pretax profits to £6.2 billion, an 11.5p a share final dividend and a £300 million stock repurchase.
The result represents a return to something approaching the performance of the business before its rescue during the financial crisis.
Thwaite, the former head of commercial banking, will be instrumental in preparing the way for the government's sale of its 35% stake in NatWest, compiled during the banking sector meltdown.
His appointment came after former CEO Rose stepped down in the wake of the so-called 'debanking' scandal.
This had seen her admit to a “serious error of judgement” when discussing Nigel Farage’s banking with NatWest subsidiary Coutts.
Farage had previously accused the lender of closing his account due to disagreement with his political beliefs.