Page 19 - RBS GRG F Case Study
P. 19
“Another committee member, Jesse Norman, chimed in.
“Just to be clear: Andrew Large, banker for 20 years,
chairman of the Securities Investment Board, member of
the management board of the Swiss Bank Corporation,
deputy chairman of Barclays Bank, Bank of England
monetary policy committee member; you would expect
him to know what a profit centre and a cost centre of a
bank was, right?”
“Yes,” Sach said, he would. But he maintained that Large’s
description of his unit as a profit centre was “not logical”.
Norman pressed him further. “You entirely discount the
possibility that he might understand the true function of
business better than you are prepared to admit?”
“Yes,” the restructuring boss maintained. “I am not trying
to cover anything up.”
"It does not contribute to the bank’s profits at all. Our
main objective is to restore the customers’ health and
strength" (23,20,25)
Sach and Sullivan repeated their insistence that GRG was
not a profit centre no fewer than 27 times during the
hearing.
However, forced RBS was forced into a humiliating
climbdown. Its chairman, Sir Philip Hampton, wrote to
Tyrie, admitting that:
