Stephen Hester, chief executive officer for Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will step down later this year. This was after the bank's decision to be under new leadership to oversee the sale of Britain's majority stake in the bank. The move was said to take years before it can be finally accomplished.

On Wednesday, Hester said that he would have liked to continue after the bank was privatized. However, he stated that it was the board's decision and he was happy to follow it. The start of sale for the government's 81% stake will take place before the next election of top executives in 2015.

On the other hand, Royal Bank of Scotland stated that Hester was unable to make an open-ended commitment to remain as CEO. Stephen Hester served office for five years. The RBS board believed that by having Hester step down would give the new CEO time to prepare prior to the government's sale and lead in the following years.

During the 2008 financial crisis, Britain pumped Eur45.8 billion into Royal Bank of Scotland. The move was to keep the bank afloat during those years.