UK Government Investments (“UKGI”), the government’s centre of excellence in corporate finance and corporate governance, today announces the appointment of Charles Donald as Head of its specialist Financial Institutions Group (“FIG”). This group comprises the former UK Financial Investments (“UKFI”) team following the completion of its planned integration into UKGI, as announced on 29 March 2018.
Charles Donald joins UKGI from Credit Suisse where he has been Vice Chairman of UK Advisory & Corporate Broking. As Head of FIG he will lead UKGI’s specialist team that will continue to focus primarily on the stewardship and divestment of the government’s remaining holdings in RBS and UK Asset Resolution (UKAR) while enhancing UKGI’s financial institutions expertise for deployment on a wider range of project and transaction work for government.
Charles will commence his new role at UKGI in May 2018, ahead of the departure of Oliver Holbourn, former Chief Executive of UKFI, who is leaving UKGI as planned following his four-year tenure and the successful merger of UKFI and UKGI.
Mark Russell, Chief Executive Officer of UKGI, said;
“I am delighted that Charles will be joining UKGI. He brings long experience of financial institutions and capital markets, and I look forward to working with him as we continue to execute our mandate and build on the progress which has been made in the disposal programme.
“I would like to express my appreciation for the leadership which Oliver Holbourn has provided since he came to UKFI in 2013. He leaves a well-resourced team and a track record of significant accomplishment.”
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For further information:
UKGI: Josh Coe – 0207 215 4787
Citigate Dewe Rogerson: Andrew Hey, Toby Moore, Jos Bieneman, Elizabeth Kittle – 0207 638 9571
About Charles Donald
Charles has a thirty-year career to date that includes senior positions spanning investment banking, corporate broking and equity research with Credit Suisse, Nomura, Lehman Brothers, DLJ and UBS.
Most recently he has been Vice Chairman of UK Advisory & Corporate Broking at Credit Suisse since 2016 where he also served as a member of each of its EMEA IBCM Operating Committee, EMEA IBCM Group Heads Committee and EMEA Investment Banking Committee since 2013. He originally joined Credit Suisse in 2010 as Head of Corporate Broking before being appointed Co-Head UK Investment Banking in 2013.
From 1994 – 2010 Charles held a series of positions with UBS, DLJ, Lehman Brothers and latterly with Nomura, where he was Head of UK Investment Banking.
About UK Government Investments (‘UKGI’)
Established in 2016, UKGI is a company owned by HM Treasury and independently managed with a Board comprised predominantly of independent Non-Executive Directors. It combines the former Shareholder Executive and UK Financial Investments. Working with a range of government departments across Whitehall and operating at the boundary of the public and private sectors, UKGI’s role is to provide government with a centre of excellence in corporate finance and corporate governance.
While broad in scope and diversity, UKGI’s work covers three principal areas:
- It acts as shareholder, representing government’s interests in the stewardship of over twenty arms-length organisations and assets, ensuring their good governance, scrutinising their performance and looking to optimise their value and operational efficiency on behalf of the taxpayer. It does all of this in line with its Principles of Portfolio Governance, which set the standard for the governance of assets in the public sector;
- It continuously reviews the feasibility of and alternatives for optimising the monetisation of those government assets held for disposal, going on to prepare and execute all of government’s significant corporate and financial asset sales;
- It advises government on its financial interventions into corporate structures resulting from corporate or sectoral distress and other special situations and on government’s major negotiations with corporates.