Clydesdale Bank announced the appointment of two new members to its senior team as its parent company unveiled further details surrounding the proposed de-merger and IPO of the UK lender in February.
National Australia Bank (NAB) published an announcement confirming the plan to the Australian Stock Exchange. The action is rumoured to fetch a valuation of around £2billion.
NAB chairman Michael Chaney said that the bank will seek approval from shareholders at a general meeting on 27 January. If shareholders sign off on the plan, Clydesdale is expected to begin conditional trading on the London Stock Exchange on 2 February.
The new appointments are expected to bring further heft to the board as it prepares to become one of the largest independent “challenger” banks in the UK.
Gavin Opperman, a former executive with Standard Chartered, takes up the role of director of customer banking. Kate Guthrie, who has spent more than a decade with Lloyds Banking Group, moves in to the newly created position of human resources director.
Ms Guthrie joins the bank’s leadership team reporting to the chief executive David Duffy, responsible for developing and leading the bank’s ambitious HR strategy.
Prior to joining Lloyds Banking Group as an HR Director in 2004, Ms Guthrie held senior HR Director positions with Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK, Scottish and Newcastle and United Distillers, part of global drinks giant Diageo.
Mr Opperman brings over 30 years spent across digital, retail, commercial, corporate and investment banking, and will also report to Mr Duffy. Prior to his role at Standard Chartered Bank where he was based in Shanghai, he held a number of senior positions across Asia and Africa in a career with Barclays Group spanning some 20 years. He started his career with Standard Bank in the frontline as a teller and worked his way through the ranks in banking.
Mr Duffy, said: “Further strengthening the Bank’s leadership team, both Kate and Gavin have first-class track records of building dynamic and successful service-led cultures across large organisations.They are both great additions to help us deliver our ambitious customer support and growth plans.”