LONDON (AP) — Sir Tom McKillop resigned yesterday as chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland, leaving the struggling lender two months earlier than he had planned.

McKillop said he was stepping down so that his successor, Sir Philip Hampton, could complete his restructuring of the board. Hampton was deputy chairman of the bank.

RBS has been hit hard by the global banking crisis, and the British government now owns 70 percent of the bank's shares. RBS has said it is likely to post the biggest full-year loss in British corporate history, up to £28 billion ($40 billion).