Head of Royal Bank of Scotland To Resign and Waive £4m Bonus

The Rumor Mill News Reading Room 

Head of Royal Bank of Scotland To Resign and Waive £4m Bonus

Posted By: Jordon [Send E-Mail]
Date: Tuesday, 5-Feb-2013 18:59:10

. RBS investment chief John Hourican to resign and waive £4m bonus The head of Royal Bank of Scotland’s investment banking arm is set to give up a bonus pot worth £4m as he resigns from the lender over its involvement in Libor-rigging. John Hourican, chief executive of markets and international banking, will leave the bank with the minimum pay-off to which he is entitled - a year’s basic salary of £700,000 - as he becomes the most senior executive at the taxpayer-backed lender to leave his job in the wake of the rate-rigging scandal. Mr Hourican’s departure is expected to be announced to RBS staff as the bank publishes details of a settlement of around £400m over accusations it manipulated key global borrowing rates between 2005 and 2010. It is not known whether the bank will admit any liability. The Irish banker is expected to forgo share awards worth £4m as part of a series of moves by the bank intended to defuse public anger, that will also see about £250m deducted from RBS’s bonus pool. Friends of Mr Hourican expressed anger at his departure, pointing out that he was not in charge of the investment banking business for much of the time Libor-rigging was going on. “George Osborne has played the part of a school room bully which will hurt the taxpayer in the end,” said one source at the bank. He added: “John slaved every day for this company. He is taking the fall. But he will leave with his head held high.” Mr Hourican is expected to leave the bank at the end of the month, with a successor to be announced in due course. However, his division has been targeted for further shrinkage, despite already being more than halved in size. Chief executive Stephen Hester and chairman Sir Philip Hampton are expected to hold a meeting on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the scandal. Mr Hester has already said he will not be taking a bonus himself for 2012 in the wake of last year’s IT disaster that saw some customers lose access to their money for several weeks. In an email to staff on Tuesday night, Mr Hester apologised for the speculation surrounding the Libor settlement announcement, and said he and Sir Philip would not be “ducking the difficult questions”. He added: “We will also ensure that wrongdoers have been punished.” Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9851327/RBS-investment-chief-John-Hourican-to-resign-and-waive-4m-bonus.html