Fred Goodwin’s Second Home Allowance

FORMER RBS supremo Sir Fred Goodwin has agreed to a 50 per cut in his £700,000 pension – “because he wants to return home to Britain from his £4 million French hideaway.”

The Mail goes on:

The former Royal Bank of Scotland chief has been living in a guarded villa on the Riviera because of public anger at his £703,000-a-year income.

So did his villa on the Riviera have a guard before his pension pot was made public and RBS tanked? There is talk of Rottweiler dogs. What? Like this one?

And if guards are an admission of a sensitivity to public anger, what do you make of the coppers outside No.10 on the Downing Street gated development?

RBS today confirmed that Sir Fred’s annual payout will fall from £555,000 to £342,500 a year, after his pension pot is cut by £4.7 million.

Despite leading the bank to the brink of disaster, his overall pension package was worth £703,000-a-year, but Sir Fred has already taken out a lump sum of £2.7 million.

And now for the best part:

Chancellor Alistair Darling said: ‘I’m very glad that RBS have now resolved the matter with Sir Fred Goodwin. I think that Sir Fred, in handing back part of his pension, is doing the right thing.”

Cough. Splutter. Can this be an MP patronising a banker? At least when he returns Fred will be in good company. And talking of second homes:

Sir Fred has reportedly been hiding in a £4million home on the French Riviera.

The 50-year-old has retired with his wife and two kids to a palatial villa on a large gated estate near Cannes.

But he’s coming home, right?

There has also been speculation he could move to South Africa.

That’d serve him right.

Image: Matt Buck

Anorak

Posted: 18th, June 2009 | In: Money, Photojournalism Comments (5) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink