LONDON (AP) — Royal Bank of Scotland says chief executive Ross McEwan is stepping down after 5 1/2 years overseeing the restructuring of a bank that was bailed out by the government during the global financial crisis.

RBS said Thursday that McEwan will remain CEO while it conducts an internal and external search for his successor.

The government plowed 45.5 billion pounds ($58.7 billion) into RBS in 2008 and 2009 to save it from collapse after a global acquisition spree that briefly made it the world's largest bank. The U.K. still owns 62% of RBS.

McEwan has supervised a drive to streamline the bank as it focuses on the U.K. and Irish markets.

Chairman Howard Davies said that McEwan has "helped to deliver one of the biggest U.K. corporate turnarounds in history."