RBS defends chief exec's 'relatively low' pay package to MPs

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) chief executive Stephen Hester defended his ‘relatively low’ pay package to MPs who questions whether his bonus should contribute toward the banks recent Libor fines.

Last week, RBS was hit with fines totalling £390 million over its Libor failings. It was reported that Hester was to receive his bonus despite the fine.

Hester (pictured) receives a basic salary of £1.2 miilion and is set to receive the payment in shares deferred from three years ago.

Hester denied accountability for the Libor-rigging to MPs while giving evidence to the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, and defended his bonus by arguing he had done a lot of work to try to get RBS on the right track since he was joined in November 2008.

He said: ‘I think bonuses should be assessed on all things do well and badly, [it’s] not me that makes judgement.

‘I think that if you look at RBS that we took on four years ago, that we have done huge things to rescue a situation for that company and for society and for different stakeholders.’

He added that it was appropriate to be assessed on things done and not done and said he believed that the ‘nation is off the hook on a lot of bad things, yet not all the way off the hook’.

RBS chairman Philip Hampton jumped in to add Hester was doing one of the most demanding jobs and has been paid ‘relatively low paid’ for a chief executive.

He added that the board had not yet decided on the bonus pool.