The new boss of Royal Bank of Scotland, Ross McEwan, started his first day in the job by promising to repay taxpayers for their help in the financial meltdown.
He also pledged to do “everything possible” to help the UK economy recover as the bank tries to put past calamities behind it and start paying off its debt to the public.
In addition, Mr McEwan said state-owned RBS would increase lending and become synonymous with exceptional customer service and not failure.
The 56-year-old New Zealander has taken over the helm from Stephen Hester, who announced his departure in the summer amid reports of a rift with Chancellor George Osborne over the scale and pace of investment banking restructure.
In a message to staff, Mr McEwan said RBS – rescued by the taxpayer at the height of the financial crisis and still 80% UK Government-owned – had a massive debt to repay. He added: “We have a greater obligation than any other bank to build a business that supports its customers.
“We were saved by the government five years ago because of how important we are to the everyday economy of the UK.
“I want RBS to stand firmly behind its customers with the explicit goal of helping them succeed. That includes an increase in our lending.
“We must do everything possible to support the recovery and future growth of the UK.”
Mr McEwan, who faces the challenge of getting Edinburgh-based RBS ready for a return to private ownership, paid tribute to the “remarkable achievement” of Mr Hester for putting the bank on a stable footing.
RBS hailed the arrival of its new chief executive in a series of tweets, saying he was having a “busy first day meeting customers and staff”.
Mr McEwan spoke to more than 300 employees at an event at RBS offices in London, later visiting entrepreneurs in the Shoreditch area of the capital.
The married father-of-two will be paid £1million a year plus £350,000 in lieu of a pension.
He joined RBS a year ago from Commonwealth Bank of Australia, where he was group executive for retail banking services for five years. He previously worked in investment and insurance.
RBS’s collapse five years ago followed the disastrous 2007 takeover of Dutch bank ABN Amro under then chief executive Fred Goodwin, in a £49billion deal that weakened its capital position and left it highly vulnerable to the credit crunch.
Mr Goodwin was widely blamed for the catastrophe and later stripped of his knighthood, and Mr Hester was parachuted in, in November 2008, to put the bank back on an even keel.
In August, RBS announced a swing out of the red after half-year pre-tax profits of £1.4billion.