13 Facts About Derek Wanless

Sir Derek Wanless was an English banker and an adviser to the Labour Party.

Derek Wanless subsequently moved into banking, qualifying as a statistician and attending the Program for Management Development at Harvard.

Derek Wanless was a member of the Institute of Statisticians and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, of which he was president of in 1999.

Derek Wanless had joined Westminster Bank, a constituent of the present National Westminster Bank in 1967, beginning with a Saturday job, before becoming NatWest's director of personal banking from 1986 to 1988.

On Friday 8 October 1999, BBC News reported that Derek Wanless had been ousted from his position as chief executive.

Derek Wanless had been criticized by City investors for taking the bank into investment banking and failing to curtail high costs.

Derek Wanless led the NatWest Group immediately prior to its takeover, by the relatively small Royal Bank of Scotland.

Derek Wanless's position became highly contentious following the incipient collapse of Northern Rock in September 2007.

Sir Derek Wanless was heavily criticized regarding his role in the Northern Rock affair by a committee of MPs sitting on the Commons Treasury Select Committee on 16 October 2007.

Sir Derek Wanless's resignation was accepted by Northern Rock's newly appointed chairman on 17 November 2007.

Derek Wanless died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 64 in 2012.

Sir Derek Wanless was a Freeman of the City of London, received a Knighthood in the 2005 New Year Honours and a Doctor of Civil Law, honoris causa from Durham University on 30 June 2005.

Derek Wanless received an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from Sunderland University in July 2007.