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Exclusive: Sard to leave Natwest after four years
Miguel Sard (pictured) has resigned from Natwest after four years at the lender, Mortgage Solutions can reveal.
He joined Natwest in 2020 as managing director of homebuying and ownership.
Sard has extensive experience in banking and financial services, having worked at Santander for 16 years as its managing director of mortgages.
He also chaired the UK Finance mortgages product and service board from February 2018 to December 2018.
The lender is currently in the process of finding Sard’s replacement.
A spokesperson for Natwest said: “We can confirm that Miguel Sard is leaving to pursue opportunities outside the bank. A process is currently underway to appoint his replacement.
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“We would like to thank him for the work he has done in building a strong customer-focused team and a resilient mortgage business that will continue to deliver sustainable returns.”
Natwest’s return to private ownership
This news comes after the government reduced its stake in Natwest even further, as part of a plan to return the bank to private ownership.
In the Spring Budget, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced there would be retail sales to dispose of the state’s holding in Natwest in a bid to return the lender to full private ownership by 2025/26.
The government’s stake in the lender is now around 29.8%, meaning it no longer has a majority share.
Natwest’s latest set of results showed its gross mortgage lending had fallen from £9.9bn to £5.2bn in Q1 of this year, while its profit came to £1.3bn, down from £1.8bn during the previous year.