Goodbye Goodwin
3 Nov 08
A year ago, Sir Fred Goodwin, chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, had just been named in CA Magazine as the third “most admired” professional by fellow members in practice
by Richard Goslan
Goodwin transformed RBS during his nine years in charge into one of the world’s biggest banks, through aggressive deals, which reached their pinnacle in October last year, when he led the consortium that beat Barclays in the prolonged bidding battle for ABN Amro.
The €71 billion (£55 billion) deal stretched RBS’s capital reserves, and in April Goodwin had to ask shareholders for £12 billion in a rights issue. The bank’s share price has collapsed by about 80 per cent, valuing it at less than the £12 billion it raised six months ago.
When the bank accepted £20 billion of government money it was inevitable that Goodwin would be one of the highest-profile casualties of the credit crunch.
He waived a £1.2m severance payoff but his pension pot is worth £579,000 a year.