RBS's plan under new boss: attracting deposits

Changing focus from the rise of assets to that of liabilities,
and promoting Romanian managers are the main priorities for
Belgian-born Johan Gabriels at the beginning of his term, after he
formally took over at the helm of Romanian operations of RBS Bank
at the end of last year. “Our strategy is to give more power to
local management as far as really important positions are
concerned. We have Romanian clients and it is important to know the
market and the language,” says Gabriels, 52. He was appointed by
RBS at the helm of the Romanian operations in autumn, and received
the approval of the NBR (National Bank of Romania) at the end of
the year, replacing Peter Weiss, who had been president since 2005,
when the bank belonged to Dutch group ABN Amro. In 2008
British-held RBS took over the bank in an international
transaction. Similarly to his predecessor, his main goal is not
asset volume, being more concerned about profitability. Midway
through last year RBS Bank posted 22.6 million euros in net profit
(calculated in line with Romanian accounting standards), 35% higher
than the profit reported to the fiscal authorities for the full
2008. Gabriels says focus will change to attracting deposits,
selling investment products, and asset management, while the
granting of non-secured loans will be significantly limited.