Vernon Hill steps down as Metro Bank’s non-exec director
Mr Hill has earlier relinquished his role as Chairman of Metro Bank.
Metro Bank PLC (LON:MTRO) today announces that Vernon Hill is stepping down as Non-Executive Director, with the change effective today.
Let’s recall that Mr Hill relinquished his role as Chairman in October this year. Back then, Metro Bank said he would remain a Non-Executive Director until December 31, 2019, and that he agreed to accept the honorary position of Emeritus Chairman.
The departure of Vernon Hill, who is often credited with reinventing American banking, comes amid a wider reshuffle of the top management of the bank. Earlier in December, the bank announced that Craig Donaldson, who has been Metro Bank’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) since 2009, has agreed with the Board that he will step down at the end of the year. He has been at the helm of the bank through what has been a challenging period. Craig Donaldson will remain available to the Board as an advisor until the end of 2020.
Dan Frumkin, who joined Metro Bank in September 2019 as Chief Transformation Officer, has been named Interim CEO effective January 1, 2020, subject to regulatory approval. The Board of Metro Bank will commence a process to search for a new CEO, which will consider both internal and external candidates.
In January 2019, Metro Bank revealed a major accounting error regarding how it classifies its loan book. The announcement about the error pushed the shares of the company sharply down, prompting it to raise fresh capital. The bank warned back then that the errors, in the way it had calculated the weight of some commercial loans and buy-to-let loans to major landlords, would take a chunk out of its risk-weighted assets.
