Rand Merchant Bank's Ettienne le Roux has been appointed as the bank's new chief economist.
He succeeds Rudolf Gouws who, at the age of 62, will be moving to the Cape at the end of the year. Alan Pullinger, RMB's CEO, said that Gouws would continue to be available to RMB and the other FirstRand companies he currently advises. Gouws will also remain on the RMB board.
"Rudolf's 23 years with RMB means he has a wealth of knowledge and insight that RMB and many of the other FirstRand businesses want to continue to utlise," said Pullinger. "We are fortunate that Rudolf will remain with the Group. At the same time, to be succeeded by an economist of Etienne s calibre is testament to the depth of talent we have at RMB."
Le Roux, who has been RMB s senior economist since 2005, will take over from Gouws from July 1 2009. Le Roux started his career as an economics lecturer, and after a spell at National Treasury, joined First National Bank as an economist in 1997. - I-Net Bridge