Ernie – remember Deng Xiaoping famously stated that “it doesn’t matter if a cat is black or yellow (now quoted as white) as long as it catches the mouse.” In our mixed UK economy, we had black and yellow cats but they all missed the mouse!

FWIW – since 2004, the highest level of profitability generated by the masters of the universe at RBS was an unimpressive 0.84% (ROA) in 2004. And for that they earn…..?

Customer service is always rated highly so I don’t believe higher rewards would make a difference, overall they seem to have the right balance.

Ahh. So apparently the difference is between the obscene package of £960,000 and the perfectly reasonable package of £773,000.

What is the difference between the number of customers, employee and capital under management that CFS has and RBS has?

Banks the financial experts lending money left right and centre, what a bunch of cocks, supposedly masters in their field bailed out out by Jo Public. They are leeches.

Instead of whining about his pay and harassing this man, why don’t you vote in a far left socialist party instead of the conservatives. Then pay might be fairer, or move to cuba! I’m sure you will all love that!

The people get the government it deserves.

The people get the government it deserves.

Do the people of Cuba “deserve” to live under the government of Cuba?

Poor quality troll, 2/10.

To be honest I dont really care about how much he gets (A lot more people earn a lot more than me), but if someone gave me a million in shares i’d cash em in and buy a new bike……. or 2…….. or 3 ……….. or 4………. you know where this is going! 😛

Ohh and maybe some forks, yes I could do with some new forks.

Ahh. So apparently the difference is between the obscene package of £960,000 and the perfectly reasonable package of £773,000.

You need to sharpen up on your maths konabunny if you want to play the numbers game 😉

Hint: it’s in the first post of this thread.

Apparently he won’t be accepting his bonus – I’m sure it will make all those who practice the politics of envy very happy – now who’s next!

Sorry, haven’t read the full topic, but this is my thoughts.

If he gets a bonus of approx £960k in shares. He is then sensitised to work harder and point the company in the right direction. With that, two things happen..

His bonus grows (Share price goes up) and the business pays more back to the taxpayer (in taxes etc).

Surely it’s win-win. Win for the chap running a multi billion company, and win for the taxpayer?

I’m sure it will make all those who practice the politics of envy very happy

Well the guy who said this, will certainly be every happy :

“People will not understand how somebody can get a whacking great bonus when they are basically running a state-owned concern”

Although I had no idea that leading Tory, ex-Etonian, and former Bullingdon Club member, Boris Johnson, ‘practiced the politics of envy’ 😯

He called the decision to award the bonus “absolutely bewildering”.

Boris joins attack on No 10’s ‘failure’ over RBS boss’s bonus

You and I can sleep easy E_L, Hester is turning down his bonus. Inevitable after Hampton did the same.

Even he agrees he doesn’t deserve it :wink:!!

I’m not going to sleep easy hurty…….I’ve just discovered that my elected mayor practices the politics of envy ! 😐

fatmax – Member

If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

Funny how this maxim ever only seems to apply in sectors where the pay is already unconscionably high.

Personally, I reckon he shouldve taken his bonus. He’s heading a huge bank at the moment, in a bank, a million pounds is petty cash so for the position he’s in and the pressure he’s under, the bonus was fitting. Just a load of people thinking the country will sort itself out who have no idea how its gonna happen really shouldn’t complain. He’s being productive and getting somewhere, if you really want, let’sjust tell him not to bother because obviously, its not worth nine hundred and odd thousand to start rebuilding what’s been messed up.

So now the exchequer has missed out on the tax on his bonus. Presumably 50% + 10% NI, or about £600k. Enough for quite a few teachers or some hospital consultants.

I guess nothing is simple.

Presumably 50% + 10% NI

Presumable the exchequer can ask for 84%, since it’s 84% owned by the tax payer. Which sounds like a better deal.

You need to sharpen up on your maths konabunny if you want to play the numbers game

Well, if you pay peanuts, you’ll end up with monkeys like me.

earnie – you are being very selective in your quotes, what about all the labour, conservative and lib dem quotes.

In 5 years, when RBS no longer exists and the tax payer is sitting on a loss of 45bn, you will no doubt be calling for the heads of those who failed to appoint the right person to protect the tax payers investment.

Bankers have been getting paid too much. But like it or not Hester has been doing a good job at RBS, shrinking the place, getting it focused on it’s core business again and hopefully ready for sale so we can get our money out of it.

He’s not the bad guy and if he quits what will that achieve? If Labour are so outraged by his £2mm pay for 2011 why did it pay him £7.2mm in 2008? Epic levels of hypocracy, they really do not have a leg to stand on.

So – if bankers need to have their mouths stuffed with gold to have the incentive to work hard why does this not apply to healthcare workers and teachers? apparently we do not need the incentive of payrises let alone bonuses.

Presumably, he could leave, claim “constructive dismissal” and sue the buggers for lost earnings?

His bonus grows (Share price goes up) and the business pays more back to the taxpayer (in taxes etc).

Surely it’s win-win. Win for the chap running a multi billion company, and win for the taxpayer?

Yes, well that’s how I see it as long as the bonus is directly linked to profits.

oldnpastit – it’s a little more complicated than that as the bonus was paid in shares. Let’s assume he holds onto them until the share price doubles..when he sells them, he’ll pay tax on the gain – a lot more than the 50% of £960,000…….

TJ you of all people should be hoping Hester sticks around and succeeds. Your independent Scotland cant afford a perpetually bust RBS.

When he took the job (at the request of G.Brown and A.Darling) I dont think he was signing up to be public enemy #1. Whatever he does it will be the same this time next year. Haters gonna hate.

Here he is on a horse.

Man of the people.

I think they’ve squeezed that pic to make him look a bit thinner though.

Here he is on a horse.

And? What’s your point? Or is a little bit of the chip on your shoulder showing through?

Prejudice is a terrible thing, isn’t it? Or is prejudice acceptable if it’s your prejudice?

When he took the job (at the request of G.Brown and A.Darling) I dont think he was signing up to be public enemy #1. Whatever he does it will be the same this time next year. Haters gonna hate

he must have had an idea he would come under scrutiny and the pricing of his bonus at a whisker under a million seems to be a clear sign he was hoping no one would notice

every year at bank bonus time a lot of people are offended by the money thrown around in the sector, and that was before the crash, rising unemployment, wage freezes, inflation, recession- all caused by failures in banking
the guys already a millionaire running a publicly owned bank,what was he expecting?
wait till you see the fuss next year when we are even further down the pan

Prejudice is a terrible thing, isn’t it?

What prejudice?

It’s just a picture of him on a horse.

‘all caused by failures in banking’

all caused by our collective greed! the need to own your own home (regardless of whether you could afford one!), the need to have a ‘national health service’, the need for the latest gadget / bike / bling!

The debt fuel comes from our owns societies unrealistic expectations.

all caused by our collective greed! the need to own your own home (regardless of whether you could afford one!)

I don’t think this is quite fair.

There was a concerted effort by the monied classes to convince the general public that they could afford to buy their own homes without proper consideration of what the freeing up of credit would do to house prices.

And we are still being conned by politicians and bankers into believing that high house prices are due to a lack of supply, when in fact they have far more to do with too much credit.

What sent house prices into the stratosphere was banks providing 100% (+) mortgages, which led people to believe that it was OK to pay more for a house than you knew it was worth (on the grounds that it would be worth that at some point in the future).

It wasn’t just greed. It was a cynical exercise to get people into debt, where they could be milked for the rest of their lives.

But now we are all paying the price, because the (truly greedy) banks have created more debt than can be serviced by the economy, leading to defaults and the whole thing unravelling.

Some people might have been greedy/opportunist, but the people who should have known better, and allowed the situation to get out of hand were politicians and bankers.

RPRT – sometimes we have to make our own decisions. We simply cannot blame others for things like borrowing more than one can afford. Would you jump off a cliff if a banker/politican said it was good for you?

druidh – Member
oldnpastit – it’s a little more complicated than that as the bonus was paid in shares. Let’s assume he holds onto them until the share price doubles..when he sells them, he’ll pay tax on the gain – a lot more than the 50% of £960,000…….

fwiw the terms of the bonus meant he couldn’t cash in the shares until 2014.

Would you jump off a cliff if a banker/politican said it was good for you?

Of course not, but it wasn’t like that.

It was more like people were being told to go through a door and something nice would be waiting for them on the other side…

‘go through a door and something nice would be waiting for them on the other side…’

so, RPRT if someone told you to go through a door and something nice would be waiting for you, would you walk through that door without having done your homework? Or would you just wander in and hope for the best?

rightplacerighttime – Member
It wasn’t just greed. It was a cynical exercise to get people into debt, where they could be milked for the rest of their lives.

I’ve said it before.. I wish the STW forum archives were extensive enough to let us pull out the threads whinging that the Banks weren’t handing out loans easily enough.

And despite everything that’s happened in the last 2/3 years, there’s still folk on here looking for, and recommending, cheap credit to buy shiny new toys.

How convenient to have someone to point the finger at.

so, RPRT if someone told you to go through a door and something nice would be waiting for you, would you walk through that door without having done your homework? Or would you just wander in and hope for the best?

Well, as it happens we have a nice house and not much of a mortgage, so no, I personally didn’t go through the door.

But if you really don’t understand what I’m trying to say, but would rather exercise your pedantry muscle, carry on…

I’ve said it before.. I wish the STW forum archives were extensive enough to let us pull out the threads whinging that the Banks weren’t handing out loans easily enough.

You have a different memory to me then.

I recall about 10 years ago, loads of people remortgaging their houses to “release the equity” that they could then spend on a car/kitchen/holiday – safe in the knowledge that their house prices would rise inexorably and that it would all be covered.

I also know people who took out self certified (liar) mortgages for almost the entire value of their houses.

I also know people who leapt into the buy-to-let business pretty much at the drop of a hat.

And all the time people were being urged to jump into the housing market NOW, before they got left behind forever.

RPRT – i thinks its you who is not understanding what im trying to say

and as for ‘we have a nice house’ as long as im alright jack……….

so, RPRT if someone told you to go through a door and something nice would be waiting for you, would you walk through that door without having done your homework? Or would you just wander in and hope for the best?

At the same time as trying to convince everyone that they needed to buy houses and we’d all be happier and richer buying into the dream.
They put measures in place to prevent an easier option via social housing.
We were being herded down a one way street, with gates being locked behind us.
I was lucky enough to have inherited a house but I see many for whom it’s been a brick around their neck