RBS headed for row over share awards
ROYAL Bank of Scotland is at the centre of a new row over executive remuneration, after it emerged that the bank has given four senior executives share packages worth a combined £5m at current prices.
The new compensation scheme will reward Ellen Alemany, the chief executive of RBS America with 5.9m shares, worth just over £2.4m at last Friday’s closing price.
Chris Sullivan, who is to become the bank’s head of UK corporate banking, is in line for 1.8m shares worth £740,000, while Alan Dickson, the man he replaces, will get 1.9m shares worth £777,000. Ron Teerlink, the bank’s chief administration officer, will also get 1.9m shares worth £777,000.
The share awards will depend on performance targets being met over the next three years although those targets will not be revealed until chief executive Stephen Hester unveils his review of the bank’s operations later this summer.
The bank said: “It is critical that executive reward is made dependent on the delivery of those plans over the next three to five years to align their interests directly with those of our shareholders.” It also reiterated that there would be “no reward for failure” and that all share awards would be subject to clawback.
Meanwhile, fears that pay restrictions could cause an exodus of talent grew yesterday, as a top analyst left RBS’ stockbroking unit Hoare Govett. Richard Rae, the head of Hoare Govett’s small and mid-cap research team, is to leave the unit, sparking fears that his 20-strong team could follow him out of the exit door.