Advertisement

Dozens Remain In Millionaires' Ranks At RBS

Dozens Remain In Millionaires' Ranks At RBS

The state-backed Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will disclose on Friday that it paid dozens of employees at least £1m last year, just days after reporting a £3.5bn annual loss.

Sky News understands that the lender will publish figures showing that the number of staff earning more than the £1m sum fell only marginally from 75 individuals a year earlier.

The disclosure will be awkward for RBS despite the fact that its overall bonus pool fell by more than 20% in 2014, and a decision by its chief executive to waive a £1m share allowance.

The bank will include the number of millionaires in its remuneration report, which is also expected to confirm a six-figure payout to Stephen Hester, its former boss, under a long-term incentive plan.

For the first time, RBS will denominate the number of millionaire staff in Euros, in order to comply with guidelines set by the European banking watchdog.

A source familiar with the figures said that when calculated in sterling, the decline in the number of millionaires would be "modest".

Last week, RBS said it had made a loss for the seventh consecutive year since being bailed out with more than £45bn of taxpayers' money.

The performance prompted Ross McEwan, its chief executive, to forego a £1m payment, which he said would have distracted from to avoid distracting from "the task of building a great bank for customers and shareholders".

This week, the European Banking Authority cast renewed doubt on the ability of banks to continue awarding those payments.

RBS has been plagued by remuneration rows since its rescue in 2008, and was last year prevented by the Treasury from making variable pay awards on the same basis as commercial rivals.

Sky News revealed last month that RBS and Lloyds Banking Group would restrict cash bonuses to £2000 for a further year.

RBS has also decided that it will no longer pay annual bonuses to any members of its executive committee in a permanent decision cast by some City investors as endangering RBS's ability to compete for talent.

Mr McEwan and other top executives remain eligible for share awards under RBS's long-term incentive plan, which in the chief executive's case can have a maximum value at award of £2m.

Last week's results dashed hopes of a return to profit after a £4bn writedown of goodwill relating to Citizens, RBS's US bank.

Mr McEwan also announced further measures to improve the performance of its corporate and investment bank, including "substantial" job cuts which reports this week suggested could account for as many as 80% of the 16,000 positions within the division.

The decision marked another nail in the coffin of RBS's attempts to build a global investment bank, drawn up under Fred Goodwin, its former boss.

RBS also confirmed the appointment of Sir Howard Davies as its new chairman, replacing Sir Philip Hampton.

The bank declined to comment on Thursday on its remuneration report.