Management changes at RBS, Crest Nicholson appoints COO

London open

The FTSE 100 was called to open 20 points higher at 7,560.

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Royal Bank of Scotland has parted company with the bosses of its investment bank as chief executive Alison Rose seeks to shake up the underperforming business. Chris Marks has stepped down as chief executive and chair of NatWest Markets and Richard Place has quit as the division's finance director.

Real estate investment trust GCP Student said it planned to raise £75m through a share placing in response to demand from various pension funds managed by APG Asset Management.

The shares will be placed at 186p each, which represents a premium of 10.4% to the company's prevailing EPRA net asset value of 168.55p and a discount of 6.3% to the closing price on December 18 of 198.40p, GCP said.

PayPoint is looking for a new chief executive after Patrick Headon stepped down from the in-store payments company with immediate effect. Chairman Nick Wiles will work in an executive role until a new boss is found.

Crest Nicholson has appointed Tom Nicholson as chief operating office with effect from 1 January.

The housebuilder said Nicholson has had an extensive career in the industry including roles with Trafalgar House Group, Berkeley Group and Try Homes. After joining Try Homes, he spent 23 years at what became Linden Homes, part of the Galliford Try Group.

Newspaper round-up

Royal Bank of Scotland has parted company with the bosses of its investment bank as chief executive Alison Rose seeks to shake up the underperforming business. Chris Marks has stepped down as chief executive and chair of NatWest Markets and Richard Place has quit as the division's finance director.

Real estate investment trust GCP Student said it planned to raise £75m through a share placing in response to demand from various pension funds managed by APG Asset Management.

The shares will be placed at 186p each, which represents a premium of 10.4% to the company's prevailing EPRA net asset value of 168.55p and a discount of 6.3% to the closing price on December 18 of 198.40p, GCP said.

PayPoint is looking for a new chief executive after Patrick Headon stepped down from the in-store payments company with immediate effect. Chairman Nick Wiles will work in an executive role until a new boss is found.

Crest Nicholson has appointed Tom Nicholson as chief operating office with effect from 1 January.

The housebuilder said Nicholson has had an extensive career in the industry including roles with Trafalgar House Group, Berkeley Group and Try Homes. After joining Try Homes, he spent 23 years at what became Linden Homes, part of the Galliford Try Group.

US close

US stocks turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday as investors eyed impeachment proceedings and continued to mull over Sino-US trade developments.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.10% at 28,239.28, while the S&P 500 was 0.04% lower at 3,191.14 and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.05% higher at 8,8