RBS chief admits thinking of quitting over bonus row

London: The chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland said yesterday that he had considered resigning over the political controversy surrounding his nearly £1 million (Dh5.81 million) bonus.

"I came to the conclusion that I thought it would be actually indulgent for me to resign, and that what I ought to do was to draw, if you like, on the reserves of strength I have and try and make RBS a success," Stephen Hester said.

Hester said the public and political criticism had complicated his task of shoring up the bank, which was rescued during the credit crisis of 2008 with £45 billion of taxpayers' money. The British government now owns 82 per cent of RBS. Hester was brought in soon after the government rescue to turn the bank around. Hester, who draws a yearly salary of £1.2 million, decided not to accept a bonus of shares worth £963,000 after the award was criticised by senior government officials and politicians.

"I took the judgment that it was going to be damaging for RBS to stay in the intensity of the spotlight that we had got into, and in the end, the job that I was asked to do three years ago — when RBS was collapsing — was about recovering this bank and about helping it to succeed, and that's what I really want to accomplish."

Treasury chief George Osborne had said on Tuesday that the government had no problem with rewards for success. "Of course rewards for failure are unacceptable — and those who believe in the free market are the first to say so, but a strong, free market economy must be built on rewards for success," he said addressing the Federation of Small Businesses.