FORMER Royal Bank of Scotland boss Fred Goodwin has sparked outrage after it emerged he pockets a pension pot “worth £17million”.
The disgraced chief executive – dubbed Fred the Shred – was widely considered to be responsible for the bank’s near-collapse in 2008.
When he stepped down that same year, he was stripped of his knighthood and agreed to a £200,000 reduction in his pension entitlement.
But the Mirror reports that he enjoys a £450,000 a year pension, as well as raking in £6million since quitting a decade ago – with a £2.8million lump sum.
Robin Hood Tax campaign director David Hillman told the newspaper: “Goodwin symbolises the height of unfairness.
“After driving his bank into the ground, he walked off with a golden handshake.”
The newspaper claims the 60-year-old is continuing to live the high life, despite millions of people being more than £23,000 worse off every year on average following the financial crash.
He was apparently seen driving a £12,000 rare 1988 BMW 635CSi near his large home in the Grange area of Edinburgh.
Goodwin was cleared of any wrongdoing over the collapse of RBS by the Financial Services Authority.
The 2008 recession was triggered by the collapse of Wall Street giant Lehman Brothers, unleashing a wave of market turmoil across the globe.
In a bid to save the UK’s financial system, RBS was rescued from the brink of collapse by a government bailout.
Earlier this week, RBS’s chairman Sir Howard Davies admitted it is “unlikely” taxpayers will get back all the £45.5bn pumped in to the bank.
He said restructuring costs, losses on loans and selling businesses meant RBS was valued at less than taxpayers paid for their stake.
Looking back on the decade since the financial crisis, he told a lecture that the government is “unlikely to recoup its investment in full”.
Though formally cleared of any wrongdoing Goodwin is currently being sued for up to £3billion by Taiwanese shipping magnate Nobu Su for allegedly using his company’s cash to keep the bank afloat before it collapsed.
The billionaire chairman of Today Makes Tomorrow (TMT), accuses Goodwin – along with two ex-colleagues and the bank itself – of “hijacking” TMT’s accounts and using them as “unlimited cash machines”.
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Between 2007 and 2009, when RBS was on the brink of disaster, the tycoon claims Goodwin “siphoned off” billions of dollars without consent.
It is the second time in as many years that Goodwin has faced a potential trip to court due to his role in RBS’ near-collapse.
In 2017 he escaped being summoned to the High Court as a witness after thousands of shareholders who complained of being misled into buying the bank’s shares accepted an out-of-court deal with RBS.
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