Royal Bank of Scotland has said the two top executives of its investment banking arm, NatWest Markets, have stepped down.
Chief executive Chris Marks and chief financial officer Richard Place have quit, but will stay on to ensure an "orderly transition" until June and March next year respectively.
They have been replaced on an interim basis, with Robert Begbie, RBS treasurer stepping up as chief executive and Robert Horrocks, RBS treasury finance director, as chief financial officer.
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RBS has launched an internal and external search for permanent replacements.
Mr Marks said: "In the face of challenging operating conditions, we continued to provide market-leading products and services to our clients, whilst being relentless in improving efficiency."
Alison Rose, recently hired chief executive of RBS, said: "The directors of RBS and NatWest Markets and I would like to thank Chris and Richard for their commitment and dedication to this bank, its staff and its clients.
"They have set the foundations for the continuing transformation and simplification across NatWest Markets as RBS has been re-shaped to focus on serving its customers in the UK and Ireland, whilst also managing complex organisational changes around ring-fencing and Brexit.
"NatWest Markets plays a crucial role within RBS, allowing us to provide our customers with the products and services they need to succeed."
The UK's financial services watchdog has extended its investigation into the collapse of package holiday giant Thomas Cook.
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) announced that its enforcement division will now analyse financial statements by Thomas Cook's auditors EY stretching until September 2017.
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Thomas Cook, the world's oldest travel firm, collapsed in September after failing to produce a funding lifeline, impacting 9,000 jobs.
In a statement, the FRC said: "The matters being investigated by the Financial Reporting Council concerning EY's audit of the financial statements of Thomas Cook Group for the year ended September 30 2018 will now include an investigation into EY's audit of Thomas Cook's financial statements for the year ended September 30 2017.
"The FRC will continue to keep the scope of the investigations under close review."
The Bank of England is expected to keep interest rates unchanged on Thursday in its first meeting since Boris Johnson's election victory, despite growth flat-lining in Britain's Brexit-battered economy.
Economists predict the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will vote to keep rates at 0.75% in the noon decision.
Howevere it is likely two of the nine members will repeat their call for a cut to 0.5% after Jonathan Haskel and Michael Saunders dissented in November - which marked the first split decision on the MPC for more than a year.
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The decision comes as recent official figures revealed the economy stagnated in October as Brexit and political uncertainty hampered activity, with more recent surveys confirming a worsening picture for growth.
Since then, the Conservatives' triumph in the December 12 election has helped remove some of the clouds of political uncertainty and concerns over another Brexit deadline extension.
However, fears over a no-deal Brexit remain at the fore, with Mr Johnson legislating to prevent MPs from extending the Brexit transition period beyond the end of 2020.
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