Sir Fred snubs AGM plea to give up cash

FORMER RBS chairman Sir Fred Goodwin is reported to have snubbed a request from his successor to return some of his £700,000 a year pension.

In a bid to appease shareholders at the bank's AGM yesterday, Sir Philip Hampton said he had telephoned Sir Fred and asked him to reconsider his position on the pension fund.

He said: "I've asked Sir Fred if he would consider a voluntary reduction and he's told me he's thinking about that."

However, Sir Fred is reported today to have rejected the idea and plans to keep hold of the £16.9 million pension awarded when he resigned in October last year.

The AGM was told that lawyers were examining the pension agreement with a fine-tooth comb to see if it could be unwound, but it would take "weeks" for them to come to a decision.

Among the resolutions put to shareholders at yesterday's meeting, held at the EICC, was one on the controversial remuneration package, which was rejected by 90.42 per cent of the vote. However, the poll is not legally binding and will have no impact on the pension.

Sir Philip later told reporters it had been a "substantive" protest vote.