Shamik Das reports on RBS chief Stephen Hester’s obscene bonus and pay packages - which could see him receive seven million pounds for 2011.
As winter’s icy chill blasts millions of Britons up and down the land, with wages frozen, jobs lost and benefits slashed – with even cancer patients and disabled children not spared by the Cabinet of the compassionless – for at least one individual, there’s reason to cheer.
RBS chief Stephen Hester’s 2011 pay packet could reach £7.38 million. Seven million, three hundred and eighty thousand pounds.
That’s right, those responsible for the crisis are rolling in the dough once again, as if there’d been no recession, while those that had nothing to do with it are paying the price. Fair? Fair???
The Telegraph reports:
In a statement on Thursday night, the bank said Mr Hester would get a bonus of £963,000 as the taxpayer-backed lender bowed to political and public pressure to ensure its chief executive was not handed more than £1m.
However, the bank admitted Mr Hester was still potentially eligible for an award under a long-term incentive plan (LTIP) worth as much as £4.8m.
This means his total pay package for last year including his £1.2m salary and £420,000 pension could reach £7.38m.
If Mr Hester were to receive his maximum LTIP grant it would take the total value of the awards made to him since he took over as chief executive in October 2008 to about £27.5m.
The actual value of these awards is likely to be substantially lower than this due to the collapse in RBS’s share price over the last 12 months.
As foreign office minister Jeremy Browne told Question Time last night:
“There’s a question of honour. Even if there’s a contractual opportunity for him to have a bonus it doesn’t mean he has to accept it… He is effectively a public servant in a bank which is almost completely owned by us the taxpayers.
“He needs to think like a public servant who has a duty to his country, not just his own wealth… No-one’s forcing him to take this money. He could struggle on with £1.2m.”
All in it together?
See also:
• Cable fails to provide a stick or carrot in the fight against obscene pay – Duncan Exley, January 24th 2012
• Three things Cameron should do if he’s serious about high pay – Duncan Exley, January 9th 2012
• How bankers’ bonuses are contributing to the new credit crunch – Cormac Hollingsworth, December 6th 2011
• All in it together, eh Gideon? FTSE fat cats see pay rocket 50 per cent – Shamik Das, October 28th 2011
• Coalition fails “moment of truth” on bankers’ bonuses – Will Straw, February 9th 2011
43 Responses to “All in it together? RBS fat cat “in line for £7m payout”. Seven. Million”
Patrick
Did bankers really ’cause’ the crisis, though?
The ultimate cause of the crisis was people (predominantly in the US) taking out mortgages which they couldn’t afford and then defaulting on the loan. If this had not happened then there would have been no financial crash. Bankers made these loans using algorithms of historical loan-default rates. If they had suspected the loan default rate was going to be so high that it would threaten to bankrupt their bank, lose them their jobs and the destroy the entire financial system, then they would have used a different algorithm, it’s as simple as that.
It’s all very well to look back after the fact, and say, “Oh those greedy bankers, look what they’ve done!”. But I don’t remember the Left out demonstrating at the time, marching into the City of London, camping in the streets, clamouring for a change to mortgage lending policies. It was every man for himself as people jumped over each other to get on the housing ‘ladder’ and the biggest mortgage they could. And it was that failure of personal responsibility -only borrow what you can afford, always pay your debts- that caused the banking crisis.
The media, especially the Left, loves to trot out these dependable demon-figures as they are easy and populist explanations of a situation whose causes are rather more complex.
Selohesra
It is a lot easier for lazy thinkers to just bash the bankers. Certainly they were at fault as were the politicians who encouraged them/let them get away with things and more importantly as were the electorates who voted for parties prommissing reckless spending and endless hand outs from the newly discovered money tree.
Hester did not cause the problem he is trying to sort it out – I for one would rather we paid the going rate for this role in the hope of getting something back for the taxpayer than appoint a cheap nobody and never see any return back on the money pumped into RBS
Anonymous
The last crisis was caused by people not paying their debts.
The current crisis is being caused by people not paying their debts.
The last one, was people who borrowed money for property.
The current one, which is going to get far far worse, is caused by governments.
7,000 bn of debt in the UK, run up by governments.
You’re complaining that the public sector pensions are being done over, and that is what is happening. However, that’s not an ‘official debt’, so none of it has to be paid. Right?
225,000 per taxpayer.
How are you going to pay your share?
Now for the language.
You are blaming all bankers (Hester included), for what a small group did. Loan money to people who defaulted.
Now, swap banker for black or jew.
All blacks are to blame for the few that commit crimes.
Yep, shows just what your real attitude is. No difference to that of an antisemite or racist.
Anonymous
On the deficit. That’s the government’s fault.
Perhaps you are now in favour of government workers getting their pay cut until the deficit is down to zero?
What about them working for free until the government debt is paid off?
By your logic, because Gordon Brown made mistakes *Ed Balls and Milliband have admitted to this”, you want to punish all government workers.
Yep, just show what hypocrites you are.
Janet Graham
All in it together? RBS fat cat “in line for £7m payout”. Seven. Million: http://t.co/WA5U2QjP reports @ShamikDas