Global transaction services (GTS) has fared well in the latest reorganisation of RBS and the team in recent months has received a boost with the addition of a number of senior hires. People are the differentiator, says Carole Berndt, who became RBS’s head of GTS at the end of 2013. And for that reason she has been focusing on developing the bank’s GTS “people platform” since she took on the role.
Back in May, RBS announced the appointment of five senior executives. Helen Mason, who previously led Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s commercial business in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) became RBS’s head of bank partnerships. Nick Blake, who was previously responsible for EMEA multinational corporate sales and treasury services at JPMorgan, was appointed head of sales. Also joining from JPMorgan, James Waud was appointed as head of subsidiary clients and sales performance. Also, Stuart Lawson and Maha el Dimachki joined the GTS cash product team as managing directors, with Mr Lawson joining from Standard Chartered and Ms El Dimachki from BAML.
Ms Berndt explains in this video how she selected people who “dare to be different” and are willing to challenge themselves. And she says of her own career that when she found herself in her comfort zone, she then wanted to move onto the next challenge. She has had a number of such challenges in her career, which she started in Australia. She worked for Citi for nearly 10 years, during which time she held positions in Hong Kong and New York, before she moved to BAML. On the hallmark of her career so far she says “Everything I planned to do didn’t eventuate and every time I took a risk or took a role that looked a little odd or uncertain to me it was always the pathway to where I am today”.
