STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS) today announced that it has added eight senior analysts to its American Credit Strategy team as part of it plans to strengthen credit strategy in the US.

John Richards, Head of Markets Strategy, US, said: "With these additions, our team of credit strategy professionals will cover investment grade, high yield and distressed debt across a range of sectors. These appointments underscore our commitment to providing the highest quality credit analysis, geared to the investment needs of our clients."

The Stamford CT based Credit Strategy team includes Thaddeus Strobach who is responsible for energy, a sector in which he has over 16 years experience. Mr. Strobach was most recently a Senior Vice President and Director of Research at Quattro Global Capital LLC, a multi-strategy hedge fund specializing in arbitrage and distressed opportunities, and was previously with Prudential Securities.

Allison Bellini joins RBS from Havens Partners as a Managing Director and is responsible for retail, restaurants, food and consumer products companies. Previously, Ms. Bellini was a Senior Vice President and principal at CRT Capital Group and has over 14 years experience in this sector.

Murali Ganti joins RBS as a Vice President and is responsible for healthcare credits. Most recently, Mr. Ganti managed healthcare investments for Deutsche Bank's Saba Principal Strategies Proprietary Trading. Previously, he was a high-yield research analyst at Bank of America.

Chris Kirby joins RBS as a Managing Director and is responsible for homebuilders, building products and industrials and coal. Previously, Mr. Kirby was a Vice President at GE Commercial Finance and GE Equity.

Glen Reid joins RBS as a Managing Director and is responsible for the gaming, lodging and leisure sectors, with over 10 years of experience in that sector. Prior to joining RBS, Mr. Reid was a senior analyst with Imperial Capital and, before that, was a Managing Director and Senior Analyst at Bear Stearns.

Finally, Jeff Straebler joins as a Managing Director from RBS Aviation Capital where he oversaw credit for the Americas. With more than 10 years of experience, Mr. Straebler focuses on airlines, aerospace, transport and defense.

Dale Stohr and James Cullinane are joining the US credit trading team reporting to Sean Murdock, Head of US Credit Trading. Mr. Stohr has over 12 years of buy-side experience and focuses on distressed debt investment opportunities. Most recently, he was a senior research analyst in Angelo, Gordon & Co.'s Distressed Debt group. Previously, he was a Principal at American Capital and a Director at Trivest Partners where he led both control private equity investments and provided financing for private equity-sponsored transactions.

Mr. Cullinane will be responsible for distressed credits and was a distressed portfolio manager at SAC Capital. Prior to that, he was responsible for building the distressed securities group at Stark Investments.

RBS has recently made several senior level additions to its Strategy team based in the US including Brian Lancaster, Head of MBS, CMBS and ABS Strategies, and William O'Donnell, Head of US Treasury Strategy.

The Royal Bank of Scotland

RBS Global Markets division is a leading banking partner to major corporations, financial institutions and public sector clients around the world. Global Markets provides an extensive range of debt markets, treasury and investor products, asset and portfolio management and transaction banking services. The division focuses on long-term customer relationships and excellence in global product execution.

RBS

Aoife Reynolds, + 44 20 3361 1588

aoife.reynolds@rbs.com

or

Annie Donohue, 203-897-3570

annie.donohue@rbs.com

Source: The Royal Bank of Scotland

<<Business Wire -- 10/22/2009>>