Stephen Hester would almost certainly resign as chief executive of RSA if the country’s biggest commercial insurer agrees to a £5.6 billion takeover by Zurich.
Speculation mounted yesterday that Mr Hester, a serial turnaround executive and former chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, could be approached for the top job at Barclays after Antony Jenkins was deposed last month.
Britain’s third biggest lender is searching for a new chief executive, with John McFarlane currently doing the job of executive chairman.
The future of Mr Hester at RSA, which he joined 19 months ago, came as Zurich beat a Takeover Panel deadline to table a 550p-a-share bid that the RSA board said it was minded to accept.
Mr Hester, whose career also includes spells at