Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hester of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS) was persuaded to step down from office by the company's board. This was even with the impending privatization of the bank by the end of 2014 according to the UK Treasury.

Hester served RBS for almost five years and announced his departure by the end of the year. This was his response to the board's request to let his successor to be in place by the time the government starts selling 81% of the company's stake. According to analysts and investors, the departure of Hester could make the initial public offering more difficult.

"I was prepared to carry on through the start of privatization", Hester told reporters yesterday through a phone interview. He also added, "This was the board's decision, not mine, but I am comfortable with their decision."

Amid the bank bailout in 2008 and 2009, Hester was able to shrink the balance sheet of the bank by about US$1.4 trillion. He has also cut more than 36,000 jobs after he took over former RBS CEO Fred Goodwin.