NatWest must clarify leadership plans before government share sale-UKGI

LONDON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - NatWest will need to reassure investors it has found a permanent successor to former CEO Alison Rose before a heavily-anticipated sale of government shares in the lender to the general public this year, British lawmakers heard on Tuesday.

Leaders at UK Government Investments (UKGI), the body which oversees the taxpayer's interest in the British bank, said the process was currently in a "design and development" phase, with options on timing, size and structure still under review.

British Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt in November pledged to sell off some of NatWest's stock to retail investors within 12 months, but the lender is yet to finalise its leadership after appointing Paul Thwaite as interim chief executive in July following Rose's resignation.

"I think they need to provide clarity to the market on their proposals around either confirming the interim chief executive or a process around appointing a permanent chief executive for the market to be comfortable," Charles Donald, chief executive of UKGI told the UK parliament's cross-party Treasury Committee.

Holger Vieten, a director at UKGI with responsibility for financial institutions, said the body was looking at various windows during which to launch a retail sale, with the earliest potential date being June.

Various advisors have been also appointed to assist in the process, including Barclays as retail coordinator and Freshfields as legal advisor, Vieten said. Goldman Sachs is the overall privatisation strategy advisor, he added.

Hunt's plan to sell down the government's remaining 35% stake in NatWest is part of a broader initiative to boost retail interest in British stocks.

The government spent 45.5 billion pounds ($57 billion) of taxpayer money to bail out NatWest during the 2008-9 financial crisis.

($1 = 0.7978 pounds)

(Reporting By Sinead Cruise and Iain Withers, editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)