The man who made investors £4.9 billion from zombie insurance funds could be the saviour of the banks' bailout.

Clive Cowdery, who plans a £1 billion flotation of his firm Resolution on the stock market in the next two months, is now being talked of as an obvious candidate to lead a major high street bank through the Government's £50 billion recapitalisation plan.

Only a month ago Cowdery told the Evening Standard that he could target deals worth up to £5 billion and was prepared to work on "consolidation, deconsolidation and working alongside existing mangement to create value".

Despite denials, the City believes that Royal Bank of Scotland's chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin and its chairman Sir Tom McKillop will lose their jobs once the bank has signed up to the bail-out.

Cowdery and his team would make obvious replacements. He scored a coup last month when he appointed the former chief executive of the Financial Services Authority, John Tiner, as chief executive of Resolution. Both Government and investors would be happy to see a bailed-out bank in such a safe pair of hands.

Cowdery said he planned to raise an initial £1 billion through the stock market flotation, but added: "We believe that we will need at least £5 billion of equity to carry out our plans."

Another key executive in the Resolution team is former HBOS finance director Phil Hodkinson. His former employer which owns Halifax and Bank of Scotland has already agreed an £11 billion takeover by Lloyds TSB.

If Cowdery were to move on the High Street banks, it would advance his current plans by several months.