Tesco Bank appoints ex-Treasury mandarin to board
Tesco Bank has appointed Sir John Kingman, the ex-Treasury mandarin who supervised the UK’s bank bailouts during the financial crisis, to its board as a non-executive director.
Kingman was second permanent secretary to the Treasury in 2008, when Britain’s banks were given hundreds of billions of pounds by the UK government to keep them afloat after they suffered catastrophic losses.
He then ran UK Financial Investments, the company set up to manage the residual assets of the collapsed banks. Kingman is also the former chairman of UK financial services firm Legal & General.
Tesco’s statement follows a Sky News report on Saturday that Kingman is being lined up to replace chairman Graham Pimlott, Tesco Bank’s chairman.
Pimlott said today: “I am delighted to welcome Sir John to the board.”
“His experience speaks for itself and will be invaluable as we drive the change required to ensure the Bank can best serve a broad range of Tesco customers.”
The appointment comes at a tough time for UK challenger banks. Earlier this year, Tesco said it would stop its mortgage lending activities due to high levels of competition.
(Image credit: Getty)