Clawing back pensions
Discussion
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/ba...
[quote]
Mr Darling made the plea after it emerged that the 50-year-old, who is blamed for RBS's record losses, is already claiming his massive pension.
The Chancellor told the BBC: "At my request, Lord Myners spoke to Sir Fred last night and quite simply asked whether in the circumstances that the bank is now in didn't you think it was right that you should forgo this?"
Sir Fred has yet to respond to the request.
Mr Darling said that lawyers for RBS and the Treasury were also exploring how they could claw back the money that Sir Fred will be able to claim each year until he dies.
But in a plea to the former bank boss Mr Darling added: "Sir Fred could resolve this problem and he could do it quite quickly."
The Government now owns just over 80 per cent of RBS having injected another £6.5 billion to prop up the bank. The Treasury also announced that the taxpayer will insure £350 billion of toxic assets in effect creating a 'bad bank' so that RBS is clearer about its own financial position and can start lending again.
It came as RBS reported a £40 billion loss before tax – the biggest in UK corporate history. Net losses, which come after tax and interest and other charges, came in at £24.1 billion.
The loss in 2008 compares with a £9.8 billion pre-tax profit in 2007 and comes after £32.6 billion write-down of assets, mostly related to its ill-fated decision to buy ABN Amro for £63 billion.
The previous record annual loss for a UK company was £14.9 billion.
Under the asset insurance scheme, RBS will be responsible for the first £19.5 billion of losses – or 6 per cent of the asset value. The taxpayer will bear 90 per cent of any losses after that, and RBS incur the remaining 10 per cent.
RBS will also shift £240 billion of non-core assets to a stand-alone division. These will be sold or run down over five years.
As many as 20,000 jobs could be lost after RBS said it planned to cut costs by £2.5 billion.
Mr Darling said the Government had to act to try and get RBS and other banks lending again and warned that not intervening would make the problems of the recession worse.
Stephen Hester, RBS chief executive, said: "I think that this is a very big and important move by the government."
He described the losses as "terrible" and said there would now be "a sweeping restructuring" which would attempt to "roll back excesses and get back to core business."
Mr Hester claimed that the "vast majority of the business was profitable last year."
The chief executive refused to comment on the revelation that his predecessor is already drawing a £650,000 a year pension beyond simply saying that the matter was agreed by the bank's previous board, the Government and Sir Fred.
[/quote]
Fair enough they intend to claw back his pension - with any luck it will set a precedent for the claw back of all the cash that Brown and his henchmen have stolen from the taxpayer over the years.
It will make little difference to the overall defecit but it will at least give the country the hope that criminal levels of fraud, deciept and self interest that have been the hallmark of the last 12 yrs of gubberment will not be rewarded either.
Just an idea, would it work in practice?
[/minor rant]
[quote]
Mr Darling made the plea after it emerged that the 50-year-old, who is blamed for RBS's record losses, is already claiming his massive pension.
The Chancellor told the BBC: "At my request, Lord Myners spoke to Sir Fred last night and quite simply asked whether in the circumstances that the bank is now in didn't you think it was right that you should forgo this?"
Sir Fred has yet to respond to the request.
Mr Darling said that lawyers for RBS and the Treasury were also exploring how they could claw back the money that Sir Fred will be able to claim each year until he dies.
But in a plea to the former bank boss Mr Darling added: "Sir Fred could resolve this problem and he could do it quite quickly."
The Government now owns just over 80 per cent of RBS having injected another £6.5 billion to prop up the bank. The Treasury also announced that the taxpayer will insure £350 billion of toxic assets in effect creating a 'bad bank' so that RBS is clearer about its own financial position and can start lending again.
It came as RBS reported a £40 billion loss before tax – the biggest in UK corporate history. Net losses, which come after tax and interest and other charges, came in at £24.1 billion.
The loss in 2008 compares with a £9.8 billion pre-tax profit in 2007 and comes after £32.6 billion write-down of assets, mostly related to its ill-fated decision to buy ABN Amro for £63 billion.
The previous record annual loss for a UK company was £14.9 billion.
Under the asset insurance scheme, RBS will be responsible for the first £19.5 billion of losses – or 6 per cent of the asset value. The taxpayer will bear 90 per cent of any losses after that, and RBS incur the remaining 10 per cent.
RBS will also shift £240 billion of non-core assets to a stand-alone division. These will be sold or run down over five years.
As many as 20,000 jobs could be lost after RBS said it planned to cut costs by £2.5 billion.
Mr Darling said the Government had to act to try and get RBS and other banks lending again and warned that not intervening would make the problems of the recession worse.
Stephen Hester, RBS chief executive, said: "I think that this is a very big and important move by the government."
He described the losses as "terrible" and said there would now be "a sweeping restructuring" which would attempt to "roll back excesses and get back to core business."
Mr Hester claimed that the "vast majority of the business was profitable last year."
The chief executive refused to comment on the revelation that his predecessor is already drawing a £650,000 a year pension beyond simply saying that the matter was agreed by the bank's previous board, the Government and Sir Fred.
[/quote]
Fair enough they intend to claw back his pension - with any luck it will set a precedent for the claw back of all the cash that Brown and his henchmen have stolen from the taxpayer over the years.
It will make little difference to the overall defecit but it will at least give the country the hope that criminal levels of fraud, deciept and self interest that have been the hallmark of the last 12 yrs of gubberment will not be rewarded either.
Just an idea, would it work in practice?
[/minor rant]
ker gets paid off with an obscene amount money while others pension schemes are worth fipitythefool said:
Many of you are falling for the Labour spin of blaming the bankers. Can you not see that day after day, Brown and his henchmen are taking every opportunity to blame others.
But to think PH'ers are helping them in this cause is shocking.
Makes a change from blaming the Tories I guess.But to think PH'ers are helping them in this cause is shocking.
ipitythefool said:
Many of you are falling for the Labour spin of blaming the bankers. Can you not see that day after day, Brown and his henchmen are taking every opportunity to blame others.
But to think PH'ers are helping them in this cause is shocking.
Precisely.But to think PH'ers are helping them in this cause is shocking.
If Darling thinks he could legally remove Goodwin's pension entitlement, why wasn't it considered as part of the bail outs and subsequent actions?
It's yet another stink being kicked up by Labour to divert attention away from their own stupidity.
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