Aviva’s McFarlane says ‘no way’ to chairing RBS

Aviva chairman John McFarlane today ruled himself out of becoming the next chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland.

The Scot, who served briefly as a non-executive director of RBS until March last year, has been linked with the role that Sir Philip Hampton is expected to step down from in 2014. McFarlane was also mooted as the bank’s next chairman when he joined the board in 2008, but left to focus on Aviva.

“I’ve only been here two years; I’ve got to see this through,” he told the Evening Standard.

“There is no way on earth I could conceive of chairing a bank. It is just not possible.”