Thursday, June 18, 2009

Sir Fred Goodwin, the former head of Royal Bank of Scotland has said he will reduce his pension by up to £200,000 a year, leaving him with approximately £350,000 a year.

He has been heavily criticised for receiving a large pension, while being blamed for contributing to RBS’ recent issues, which is now owned mainly by the UK government, after a £20 billion bailout last autumn. RBS has previously threatened legal action to recoup some of the money.

In October 2008, Goodwin agreed to a deal with the bank that allowed him to take his whole pension of £703,000 a year. There was no penalty for claiming it early, at the age of 50. Both the board of RBS and the UK government were criticised for failing to do more to prevent Goodwin gaining such a large pension.