Fred Goodwin pension row: New RBS chairman wants cash back
- 00:01:34
- ITN
Fred Goodwin pension row: New RBS chairman wants cash back
Royal Bank of Scotland shareholders have voted overwhelmingly against the bank's remuneration report but did not snatch away Sir Fred Goodwin's £700,000 a year pension. The vote was a largely symbolic gesture, rejecting the bank's report on 2008 executive pay but it is only an advisory poll and not legally binding on the company. RBS chairman Sir Philip Hampton said the bank will axe more jobs as he called for an end to "public flogging" of its past mistakes. Sir Philip said it is too early to say how many more jobs will be lost, having already announced around 2,700 job cuts so far this year. He said: "We can only be honest and say that this will not be the end of the story and more are expected in the UK and internationally in the period ahead." He then rounded on the legacy of Sir Fred, the former chief executive, who was known as Fred the Shred for his ruthless cost-cutting. Addressing widespread public anger over an annual pension of £703,000 awarded to Sir Fred, Sir Philip said the bank is taking legal advice over the payout. He earlier said the former bank boss is mulling a "voluntary reduction" of his pay-off but Sir Fred has rejected that suggestion. Shareholder Graeme MacPherson said: "I'm disappointed. I think it would be quite good if he were able to hold up his head in public and say: 'Here I am, I've seen the light I'm a man of integrity'. "I know that I can stand up among my peers and feel content that I'm a man of integrity - he can't." Fellow shareholder Garson Gillies backed any legal moves for the pension to be clawed back. But he added: "There is another alternative and that is not to pay the pension. Find out if he will sue us." Derek Grant added: "He's shown no behaviour up to now that would lead me in any way to think that he would ever reconsider this. "I don't know Sir Fred, I've never met him, but everything he's done up to now suggests he was going to stick to this to the bitter end. I'm not surprised at all." Cornelius Cagney also hit out at Sir Fred. He said: "He was in a position of power and it's greed - naked greed. "They don't care about the ordinary person, you can say what you like, they don't even think about it. It's naked greed."
ITN | April 3, 2009
