BAML’s Carole Berndt Moves Over to RBS
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has announced the appointment of Carole Berndt as its global head of transaction services. Berndt will depart her present job as Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) head for the same function at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) but remain in London, where she will report to John Owen, the chief executive officer (CEO) of international banking at RBS.
Commenting on the appointment of Berndt at RBS, her new boss, John Owen, said that he was “delighted” to welcome her to the bank. RBS has struggled to attract top talent in recent years due to its strained finances and government-owned status following its bailout by the UK taxpayer.
“This appointment demonstrates our ability to attract industry leading talent that will help us achieve our ambitious goals,” added Owen, stressing that the RBS transaction services franchise is an important business and Berndt’s appointment is part of a plan to invest and grow the division.
While at BAML, Berndt was EMEA head of transaction banking, a role she held for more than three years. Prior to that, she spent nearly 10 years working in transaction banking with Citi, holding a variety of roles in both Hong Kong and New York. Commenting on her appointment, Berndt said that the “bank’s commitment to investing and innovating through developing its systems and products” made this “an exciting and important time to join the team”.