(23 February 2010 – UK) The chief executive officer of the Royal Bank of Scotland is to become the third major British banking executive to decline his bonus for 2009.Stephen Hester, CEO, Royal Bank of Scotland, is understood to be up for a £1.6 million (A$2.74 million) bonus for 2009, an anonymous person with knowledge on the negotiations said.
RBS suffered at the hands of the global financial crisis, resulting in the British government taking a 84 percent stake in the failing bank to avoid its collapse.
The bank has claimed, since the takeover, that outside control over how much it could award in bonuses could put it at ‘a significant competitive disadvantage’, despite the bank originally saying it would give the government a big say in the matter.
With the bank’s full year results due next week, media reports have suggested that the move to decline the award is an effort to depoliticise the bonus issue.
Two of Barclays top executives also turned down their bonuses last week.