RBS pays out banker’s bonus despite Libor fine promises

Commenting on news today (15 February) that Stephen Hester, Chief Executive of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), will receive a £780,000 bonus, Paul Daly, Corporate Accountability Campaigner at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said:

“Hester’s bonus of over three quarters of a million pounds on top of his £1.2m annual salary is very hard to stomach, especially after news that RBS received a whopping £391m fine for Libor rate fixing. We were promised that money for the fine would come from bankers’ bonuses – but fat cat Hester’s seems ringfenced.

“This will leave a bitter taste in the mouths of taxpayers; for most there has been little or no increase in wages since the financial crisis started, while the cost of living continues to escalate.

“Hester should do the honourable thing and give the money back to our struggling bank. Friends of the Earth Scotland are calling for a clean up of RBS; to have it work for our people and the planet’s best interests.”

ENDS

For media enquiries, please contact: Per Fischer, Press Office, Friends of the Earth Scotland
 t: 0131 243 2719 

Notes to Editors

1. Hester gets £780K bonus after RBS is fined £391m (The Herald)
www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/hester-gets-780k-bonus-after-rbs-is-fined-391m.1360480969

2. Friends of the Earth Scotlands Clean up RBS campaign
www.foe-scotland.org.uk/cleanuprbs

3. Friends of the Earth Scotland is * Scotland’s leading environmental campaigning organisation * An independent Scottish charity with a network of thousands of supporters and active local groups across Scotland * Part of the largest grassroots environmental network in the world, uniting over 2 million supporters, 77 national member groups, and some 5,000 local activist groups – covering every continent.
www.foe-scotland.org.uk