RBS awards Stephen Hester £1m bonus
Last night Royal Bank of Scotland awarded its chief executive Stephen Hester with a bonus worth almost £1m.
The bank said that the bonus of £963,000, which is being paid in shares, was being given to Hester to reward him for the progress he had made in reducing the size of RBS.
The announcement provoked widespread criticism. Liberal Democrat peer Lord Oakeshott said that any bonus for Hester this year was “utterly unacceptable”, while Unite the union said it was "disgusting". Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne said the chief executive should decline the bonus as “a question of honour”.
David Hillman, spokesperson for the Robin Hood Tax campaign, said:
"Curbing Hester's bonus at state-owned RBS is a small step in the right direction but nowhere near enough.
"Having just heard our economy has shrunk again, it's beyond belief the Government is letting other City fat cats off the hook."
Comments
#1 Well done
Well done for him.
Maybe now he can take a few days off and go help at a foodbank or at another voluntary organization, he can afford to skip work for a few days I suppose.
Maybe he will now donate some money to those who really need it, I am sure he's seen someone like that in England, poverty is not that far.
Maybe he will take a few weeks trip to Africa and help distribute mosquito nets and birth control methods. Who knows even hold a dying child just because they were hungry (unless he is of course too busy with his own family, maube shoping for Doritos).
Maybe this person will now appreciate what the banking society has done for him and all his hard work and will now do onto others for all their hard work; to a mother for raising her children the best she can and still not being able to buy them what they need, to a da who was just made redundant because his company went kaput and now has to foreclose his family home to be able to put food on the table.
Like I said, well done. Hope the bonuses continue to be great in numbers and currency so we can have all these people like Mr. Hester helping those in their own time of need.
#2 RBS and Bonus'es
Seems to me it is very slack to moan about this 1 year later - should have been a condition of the role back then. We need to remember that there are many rich people who earn millions every year. Some are more or less visible than Hester and many are a lot more unsavoury or contribute little of real importance. If you were Hester and were 'entitled' to this by way of the contract agreed - you'd be loath to give it up also. I'd have offered to defer it pending continued improvements in the state of RBS. This banker-bashing and witch hunt is going to financially affect the wrong player here - in this case he was not the incompentent one. Sounds like I am defending Hester, but really I am blaiming the establishment, the bank bonus culture and the authorities involved in the hiring.
In general, curb the bonuses and see how many walk - there are plenty of other hot shots and new talent coming up behind to fill their greedy boots. Even good experience and diplomacy is in abundance.
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