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12 Facts About George Mathewson

1.

George Mathewson is best known for transforming the Scottish bank The Royal Bank of Scotland from a struggling regional player into a quasi global bank with parallels to Citigroup or HSBC.

2.

George Mathewson was described by the Sunday Herald, as "banking's answer to Bruce Springsteen".

3.

George Mathewson was the convener of Scotland's Council of Economic Advisers.

4.

George Mathewson was educated at Perth Academy and the University of St Andrews' Queen's College in Dundee, from where he graduated in 1961 with a degree in mathematics and applied physics.

5.

George Mathewson was attracted back to Scotland by the opening up of the North Sea to oil exploration and joined venture capital group 3i, then called Industrial and Commercial Finance Corporation.

6.

George Mathewson was chief executive of the state-funded economic regeneration organisation the Scottish Development Agency from 1981 to 1987.

7.

George Mathewson joined the Royal Bank of Scotland, which is headquartered in the Scottish capital city of Edinburgh, in 1987 as director of strategic planning and development.

8.

When George Mathewson became RBS's chief executive in 1992 the bank had been severely weakened by bad debts arising from poor lending decisions.

9.

George Mathewson became deputy chairman in 2000 and chairman in 2001.

10.

George Mathewson was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1985 New Year Honours.

11.

George Mathewson was knighted in the 1999 New Year Honours for services to economic development in Scotland and banking.

12.

In 1966, George Mathewson married Sheila Alexandra Graham Bennett, daughter of Eon Bennett, and has two sons.