It seems that if you want to have anything to do with RBS at a senior level a Knighthood is de rigueur.
Sir Sandy has been recruited under a process put in place by the new RBS chairman, Sir Philip Hampton.
Sir Philip replaced Sir Tom McKillop who, in turn, got the blame for not keeping a tight enough rein on former chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin.
Just about the only senior figure at RBS who hasn't got a knighthood is the new chief executive, Stephen Hester. If he manages to turn around the bank, 70% owned by the taxpayer, it's surely only a matter of time.
More seriously than the issue of knighthoods and the like, it is appropriate to consider the impact of Sir Sandy's appointment.
The beleaguered bank, still suffering from the claims that its previous non-executive directors were a bunch of patsies, could hardly have chosen better.
Sir Sandy personifies the ideal of financial services probity and integrity that Scots in the business used to pride themselves on.
As the SID among the NEDs (non-executive directors - don't you love the acronyms) he will have a crucial role to play in engagement with the groups main investors.
They can go direct to him in the event of concerns over the direction that Sir Philip and Sir Stephen-to-be take the bank, though it is unlikely that the pair - brought in to change the McKillop and Goodwin culture - are going to stray far from the straight and narrow.
It is also hard to envisage Sir Sandy sitting a board meeting back-slappingly going along with whatever the senior executives propose.
He has been a chief executive, still is until a successor is found at Standard Life, and he knows the tricks of the trade.
Sir Sandy is also a details man with the ordered, forensic intelligence of the actuary he is. He will be no push over at board meetings. Which is just what Sir Philip - and, no doubt, the government with its 70% stake through UK Financial Investments (UKFI) - want.
And there is another aspect of this. In the past there have been those in the City who claimed that RBS was "too Scottish". It always seemed and odd criticism of a Scottish bank, but it was said.
The recent shake up - including the departure of the previous Knights in nights of the long knives (hopefully the last time that pun appears....well maybe) - left it a bit Scot light.
Sir Sandy's appointment puts a serious and very Scottish player back into the mix.
There may, of course be some sniping about the Scottish establishment once again rewarding one of their own - Sir Sandy will get a handsome £150,00 a year, though it is £10,000 less then his predecessor SID, Bob Scott.
But given that soon-to-be Sir Stephen and Sir Philip are not Scots and, to their credit do not even pretend to be, this does not really stand up.
All in all, a good day for RBS which badly needs good days.
A good day for Sir Sandy, who still has a lot to contribute.
And a good day too for Scotland and its battered reputation in the area of financial services.
