Annual Report and Accounts 2018 Strategic Report
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Annual Report and Accounts 2018 Strategic report Page Principal activities and operating segments Strategic report The Group serves customers across the UK and Western Europe with Presentation of information 1 a range of retail and commercial banking products. A wide range of RBS Group ring-fencing 1 personal products are offered including current accounts, credit cards, Principal activities and operating segments 1 personal loans and mortgages. Personal & Business Banking (PBB) Performance overview 1 serves individuals and mass affluent customers together with small Board of directors and secretary 2 businesses through the Group’s network of branches and direct channels, including the internet, mobile and telephony. Commercial & Top and emerging risks 3 Private Banking (CPB) provides services to private, corporate and Financial review 4 commercial customers. NatWest is the main provider of shared service Capital and risk management 9 activities for the RBS Group. This includes the provision of Treasury Report of the directors 58 services on behalf of the RFB and RBS Group. Statement of directors’ responsibilities 61 Financial Statements 62 The reportable operating segments are as follows: Risk factors 132 Personal & Business Banking comprises one reportable segment: UK Forward-looking statements 142 Personal & Business Banking (UK PBB). UK PBB serves individuals and mass affluent customers in the UK together with small businesses Presentation of information (generally up to £2 million turnover). UK PBB includes Ulster Bank National Westminster Bank Plc (‘NatWest’ or the ‘Bank’) is a wholly- customers in Northern Ireland. owned subsidiary of NatWest Holdings Limited (‘NatWest Holdings’, ‘NWH’ or ‘the intermediate holding company. The ultimate holding Commercial & Private Banking comprises two reportable segments: company is The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (the ‘ultimate Commercial Banking and Private Banking. Commercial Banking holding company’ or ‘RBSG’). The ‘Group’ or ‘NatWest Group’ serves commercial and corporate customers in the UK and Western comprises NatWest and its subsidiary and associated undertakings. Europe. Private Banking serves UK connected high net worth ‘RBS Group’ comprises the ultimate holding company and its individuals. subsidiary and associated undertakings. Central items & other includes corporate functions, such as treasury, The Bank publishes its financial statements in pounds sterling (‘£’ or finance, risk management, compliance, legal, communications and ‘sterling’). The abbreviations ‘£m’ and ‘£bn’ represent millions and human resources. Central functions manages RBS Group capital thousands of millions of pounds sterling, respectively, and references resources and RBS Group-wide regulatory projects and provides to ‘pence’ represent pence in the United Kingdom (‘UK’). Reference to services to the reportable segments. Balances in relation to legacy ‘dollars’ or ‘$’ are to United States of America (‘US’) dollars. The litigation issues are included in Central items in the relevant periods. abbreviations ‘$m’ and ‘$bn’ represent millions and thousands of millions of dollars, respectively, and references to ‘cents’ represent Preparations for Brexit cents in the US. The abbreviation ‘€’ represents the ‘euro’, and the As part of Brexit preparations, NatWest plans to migrate an estimated abbreviations ‘€m’ and ‘€bn’ represent millions and thousands of £2.1 billion of loans and receivables relating to part of the Commercial millions of euros, respectively. Banking Western European Large Corporate portfolio to NatWest Markets N.V., when the loan re-financing becomes due over the next RBS Group ring-fencing five years. The UK ring-fencing legislation requires the separation of essential banking services from investment banking services from 1 January Performance overview 2019. RBS Group has placed the majority of the UK and Western Income resilient in a competitive market: European banking business in ring-fenced banking entities, including Across Personal & Business Banking and Commercial & Private the Bank, under an intermediate holding company, NatWest Holdings. Banking income increased by £474 million, 6%, compared with 2017. NatWest Markets Plc (NWM Plc) and RBS International (RBSI) are The Group’s total income increased by £1,385 million, or 17% to separate banks outside the ring-fence, both as subsidiaries of RBSG. £9,532 million. Key activities in 2018 included: Lower costs through continued transformation and increased NatWest Holdings digitisation offset by the transfer of shared service related activities: Certain parts of NWM Plc’s (formerly RBS plc), Central items to be As a result of the Ring-Fenced Transfer Scheme (RFTS) completed on included in the ring-fenced bank, were transferred to the Group in 30 April 2018 NatWest has become the main provider of shared 2018. This included certain property portfolios and treasury balances services activities for the RBS Group. Principally as a result of the including the covered bond programme. transfer of these shared services activities, operating expenses increased by £1,274 million, 30%, to £5,594 million. Underlying costs This was followed by the transfer of NatWest Holdings, the Bank’s continue to reduce through digitisation initiatives. intermediate parent company, to RBSG on 2 July 2018 to create a separate ring-fenced bank (RFB). The second phase of ring-fencing Legacy issues diminishing: related transfers, involving the transfer of certain markets products Entered in to a Memorandum of Understanding with the Trustees of from NatWest to NWM Plc, was completed in the third quarter of 2018. the Main scheme of the RBS Group Pension Fund to address the historical funding weakness of the pension scheme, recognising a pre- RBS Netherlands Holdings B.V. was sold by National Westminster tax £2.0 billion contribution against reserves. International Holdings B.V. (a direct subsidiary of NatWest) to NWM Plc as part of the ring-fencing related transfers. Capital adequacy: The PRA transitional CET1 ratio decreased by 610 basis points to NatWest Group Holdings Corporation. 17.4% mainly due to increased RWAs resulting from the RFTS. During 2018, NatWest Group Holdings Corporation (NWGH) which wholly owns NatWest Markets Securities Inc. (NWMSI) (formerly RBS RWAs increased by £18.9 billion, mainly resulting from RFTS. These Securities Inc.) was transferred to NatWest Markets Plc. NWGH was transfers into NatWest included treasury services, including a previously a direct subsidiary of NatWest. significant proportion of the RBS Group liquidity portfolio. 1 NatWest Plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018 Board of directors and secretary Approval of Strategic report Baroness Noakes The Strategic report for the year ended 31 December 2018 set out on Risk (Chairman), Audit, Nominations pages 1 to 57 was approved by the Board of directors on 14 February 2019. Mike Rogers Remuneration Mark Seligman Audit, Nominations, Remuneration By order of the Board. Aileen Taylor Dr Lena Wilson Company Secretary Chief Governance & Regulatory Officer and Board Counsel 14 February 2019 Aileen Taylor (Company secretary) Chairman Howard Davies Other Board changes in 2018 Ewen Stevenson (executive director) resigned on 30 September 2018 Executive directors Sandy Crombie (non-executive director) resigned on 1 January 2018 Ross McEwan Frank Dangeard (non-executive director) resigned on 30 April 2018 Katie Murray Penny Hughes (non-executive director) resigned on 30 May 2018 Brendan Nelson (non-executive director) resigned on 31 December Alison Rose-Slade 2018. Non-executive directors Francesca Barnes Robert Gillespie Auditors Graham Beale Yasmin Jetha Ernst & Young LLP Ian Cormack Baroness Noakes Chartered Accountants and Statutory Auditor Alison Davis Mike Rogers 25 Churchill Place London E14 5EY Patrick Flynn Mark Seligman Morten Friis Dr Lena Wilson Registered office and Head office 250 Bishopsgate Chairman London, EC2M 4AA Howard Davies Telephone: +44 (0)20 7085 5000 Nominations (Chairman) Executive directors Other principal offices Ross McEwan Ulster Bank Limited Executive (Chairman) 11-16 Donegall Square East Belfast BT1 5UB Northern Ireland Katie Murray (appointed 1 January 2019) Executive Coutts & Company 440 Strand Alison Rose-Slade (appointed 3 December 2018) London WC2R 0QS Executive Lombard North Central PLC Independent non-executive directors 280 Bishopsgate Francesca Barnes (appointed 1 May 2018) London EC2M 4RB Graham Beale (appointed 1 May 2018) National Westminster Bank Plc Audit, Nominations, Risk Registered in England No. 929027 Ian Cormack (appointed 1 May 2018) Audit, Remuneration, Risk Alison Davis Remuneration Patrick Flynn (appointed 1 June 2018) Key: Audit (Chairman),Risk Audit member of the Audit Committee Executive member of the Executive Committee Morten Friis Nominations member of the Nominations Committee Audit, Risk Remuneration member of the Performance and Remuneration Committee Robert Gillespie Risk member of the Board Risk Committee Remuneration (Chairman), Nominations, Risk For additional detail on the activities of the Committees above, refer to Yasmin Jetha the Report of the directors. Remuneration 2 NatWest Plc Annual Report and Accounts 2018 Top and emerging risks The Group employs a continuous process for identifying and managing its principal and emerging risks. These are defined as scenarios that could have a significant negative impact on the Group’s ability to operate or meet its strategic objectives Type Risk Mitigation RBS’s information