Senior UBS banker Robin Budenberg was confirmed on Wednesday as the next chief executive of UK Financial Investments, the body that runs the government’s bank shareholdings.

Mr Budenberg’s appointment followed details of the split of nationalised bank Northern Rock into “good” and “bad” parts, under the terms of a deal struck with the European Commission. Overseeing a transfer of the good bank to UKFI, and then privatising it, will be Mr Budenberg’s first task in his new job.