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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Darling faces RBS pension anger | Darling faces RBS pension anger |
| (11 minutes later) | |
| Chancellor Alistair Darling has admitted the government could have stopped ex-RBS Sir Fred Goodwin from receiving a £650,000-a-year pension. | Chancellor Alistair Darling has admitted the government could have stopped ex-RBS Sir Fred Goodwin from receiving a £650,000-a-year pension. |
| But it did not realise this at the time when it agreed to pump £20bn of taxpayers money into the firm, he said. | But it did not realise this at the time when it agreed to pump £20bn of taxpayers money into the firm, he said. |
| It thought 50-year-old Sir Fred's early retirement deal was "an unavoidable legal commitment". | It thought 50-year-old Sir Fred's early retirement deal was "an unavoidable legal commitment". |
| Shadow Chancellor George Osborne called Mr Darling's "excuse" that he did not know what was happening "pathetic". | Shadow Chancellor George Osborne called Mr Darling's "excuse" that he did not know what was happening "pathetic". |
| He told BBC News "these pensions were awarded on their watch" and Mr Darling's admission showed the government "did not have a grip on events". | |
| Mr Darling has appealed to Sir Fred to give up his £650,000 package amid growing cross party anger at rewards for failure. | Mr Darling has appealed to Sir Fred to give up his £650,000 package amid growing cross party anger at rewards for failure. |
| 'Excesses' | 'Excesses' |
| Sir Fred, 50, who helped steer RBS to the brink of ruin, was given a £16m pension pot which he can claim from for life when he took early retirement in October. | Sir Fred, 50, who helped steer RBS to the brink of ruin, was given a £16m pension pot which he can claim from for life when he took early retirement in October. |
| Mr Darling said such "excesses" could not be justified and said that ministers were considering their legal options. | Mr Darling said such "excesses" could not be justified and said that ministers were considering their legal options. |
| He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We've got the lawyers looking at this, but I do think that on a voluntary basis, actually, Sir Fred could resolve this problem and he could do it quite quickly." | He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We've got the lawyers looking at this, but I do think that on a voluntary basis, actually, Sir Fred could resolve this problem and he could do it quite quickly." |
| It was only very recently that we became aware that the decision of the previous board of RBS to allow Sir Fred to take early retirement had the effect of increasing his pension entitlement Chancellor Alistair Darling | It was only very recently that we became aware that the decision of the previous board of RBS to allow Sir Fred to take early retirement had the effect of increasing his pension entitlement Chancellor Alistair Darling |
| He told MPs that he had only discovered the size of Sir Fred's pension last week, but was pressed about current RBS chief Stephen Hestor's comment on Today that the pension had been agreed by the bank's old board and the government. | He told MPs that he had only discovered the size of Sir Fred's pension last week, but was pressed about current RBS chief Stephen Hestor's comment on Today that the pension had been agreed by the bank's old board and the government. |
| Mr Darling said the government had believed that the pension agreement was a contractual obligation to Sir Fred. | Mr Darling said the government had believed that the pension agreement was a contractual obligation to Sir Fred. |
| "We had previously understood that his pension commitments were an unavoidable legal commitment," he told MPs during a statement to MPs about new support for Royal Bank of Scotland. | "We had previously understood that his pension commitments were an unavoidable legal commitment," he told MPs during a statement to MPs about new support for Royal Bank of Scotland. |
| "We didn't know and it was only very recently that we became aware that the decision of the previous board of RBS to allow Sir Fred to take early retirement had the effect of increasing his pension entitlement and that might have been a discretionary choice." | "We didn't know and it was only very recently that we became aware that the decision of the previous board of RBS to allow Sir Fred to take early retirement had the effect of increasing his pension entitlement and that might have been a discretionary choice." |
| 'Clawing back' | 'Clawing back' |
| It was "only last week" that it became clear "that this may have been a discretionary choice", said Mr Darling. | It was "only last week" that it became clear "that this may have been a discretionary choice", said Mr Darling. |
| When he found out, Mr Darling asked UK Financial Investments, which manages the government's 70% stake in RBS, to investigate the possibility of "clawing back" some of the money or "whether the board took the decision in the full knowledge of the facts". | When he found out, Mr Darling asked UK Financial Investments, which manages the government's 70% stake in RBS, to investigate the possibility of "clawing back" some of the money or "whether the board took the decision in the full knowledge of the facts". |
| The investigation was still going on, he told MPs, but he repeated his appeal to Sir Fred to give up his pension, saying: "The ball is in his court". | The investigation was still going on, he told MPs, but he repeated his appeal to Sir Fred to give up his pension, saying: "The ball is in his court". |
| Sir Fred stepped down in October last year as part of the government's rescue of the faltering bank. | Sir Fred stepped down in October last year as part of the government's rescue of the faltering bank. |
| The controversy over his pension intensified as RBS announced that its 2008 loss totalled £24.1bn ($34.2bn) - the biggest annual loss in UK corporate history. | The controversy over his pension intensified as RBS announced that its 2008 loss totalled £24.1bn ($34.2bn) - the biggest annual loss in UK corporate history. |
| Sir Fred's strategy and decision to buy ABN Amro is widely seen as making the bank more vulnerable to the credit crunch and having to be bailed out. | Sir Fred's strategy and decision to buy ABN Amro is widely seen as making the bank more vulnerable to the credit crunch and having to be bailed out. |