RBS boosts boardroom with new directors

Royal Bank of Scotland moved to assuage concerns in the City that its management is too autocratic yesterday by naming two new executive directors.

Johnny Cameron, who runs the bank's flourishing business banking and financial markets operations, and Mark Fisher, the head of infrastructure there, join the board next month.

Their appointments take the number of executive directors from a lowly four to a more typical six for a company of RBS's magnitude. Bill Friedrich, deputy chief executive of the oil and gas group BG, will become RBS' 12th independent director.

RBS shares languish among the cheapest of any European bank, in part on longstanding disquiet about the perceived dominance of Sir Fred Goodwin, its chief executive, over an unusually compact board. The City also fears that he may shell out on another costly foreign acquisition. RBS shares rose 3p to 1,774p.