HSBC Holdings Plc named David Lindberg chief executive officer of its ring-fenced UK bank, ending a long search as the lender undergoes its biggest overhaul in a decade.

Lindberg, most recently head of retail banking at NatWest Group Plc, will start on Dec 8 and also join the group operating committee, according to a statement. He’s replacing Ian Stuart, who will start his new role as group customer and culture director following a handover period.

Chief Executive Officer Georges Elhedery has undertaken the biggest overhaul of the bank in at least a decade, reorganizing HSBC into four new divisions and exiting some businesses his predecessors once considered key to the lender’s future. As part of the moves, several top executives have left or shifted roles.

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The bank has also over the past years pivoted to Asia, closing and selling off businesses across Europe and North America.

HSBC UK, one of the bank’s two home markets along with Hong Kong, serves more than 15 million customers, with over 23,000 staff. It operates retail banking and wealth management, as well as commercial banking for businesses.

The ring-fencing rules were part of the UK government’s response to the global financial crisis in 2008 and were aimed at protecting retail banking from external shocks. They mean Britain’s biggest banks, including HSBC, are barred from moving much of their domestic earnings into their international arms, which often house their riskier investment bank and trading arms.

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Numerous banking bosses, including Elhedery, have spoken out recently about the cost and unfairness of maintaining a ring fence, which they say puts them at a disadvantage to rivals on Wall Street.