Stephen Hester, chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, is to forgo his bonus for 2009, as pressure mounts on the loss-making UK state-owned bank to show humility amid the continuing populist backlash against bankers.
People familiar with Mr Hester's thinking said he hoped the gesture would be seen as part of an effort to “depoliticise” the RBS bonus issue and help pave the way for the UK government to sign off the bank's plans to pay a “commercial rate” of bonuses to its investment banking staff.
Mr Hester's decision to give up a bonus – which could have amounted to more than £1.6m ($2.5m) as part of a near-£10m potential pay package – follows a similar decision by Barclays bosses John Varley, chief executive, and Bob Diamond, president, last week.