Sir Fred to waive his pension

[Cyberman]

BCCI collapsed as well - and no-one had heard of them either

and them !!

[centurian]

Hardly..... BICC collapsed in the eighties and many others have throughout the world. Everything collapses under Labour eventually.

BCCI collapsed as well - and no-one had heard of them either

[Cyberman]

Imagine the headline 1st April 2007

"MAJOR BANK COLLAPSES"

Everyone would have laughed thinking it had to be a joke...

But in 2009...

Hardly..... BICC collapsed in the eighties and many others have throughout the world. Everything collapses under Labour eventually.

[centurian]

Bit too obvious really.

Imagine the headline 1st April 2007

"MAJOR BANK COLLAPSES"

Everyone would have laughed thinking it had to be a joke...

But in 2009...

[conned tractor]

Bit too obvious really.

[Cyberman]

So obvious an April Fool !!

[conned tractor]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...ension-april-1

My dear former friends and colleagues, now that the dust has settled on my departure from RBS, I have had time to reflect on that episode and my role in the extraordinary success, and temporary setback, of that proud institution.

Some have urged me to make an apology, but I find I have no regrets. I believe that in the long run I will be vindicated. Just because a few doubters failed to appreciate that paying £10bn for ABN Amro was both a bargain and a stroke of genius, everyone has decided to blame me for a bit of balance-sheet turbulence at RBS. That this was compounded by their failure to understand the fundamental principles of executive remuneration embodied in my pension arrangements is hardly my fault.

But so be it. If you can dish it – and believe me, I can: our 9am conference at RBS was not known as the "morning beating" for nothing – then you have to know how to take it. I've had worse in the playground of Paisley Grammar.

However, I did not get where I am today by being deaf to criticism and I believe in rewarding success, not failure. As I've said before, I've no time for "cynics, spectators and deadwood", and I'm not afraid of firing a few thousand of them if that's what it takes to turn a sleepy provincial bank into a world-beating multinational financial institution. That's how I earned every penny of the £15m I made in my four years as chief of RBS. And that's how I know that a man of my talents can do considerably better than a mere £700,000 a year.

So, I'm taking this opportunity, today, to announce that I'll be handing back the bulk of my £16.9m pension entitlement – minus the £3m already advanced, of course, as I'll need that to cover the damage caused by the bastards who bricked my house and wrecked my Merc. In so doing, I would like to save Lord Myners any further embarrassment over his recollection of the terms of my severance package from RBS. Never let it be said that Sir Fred bears a grudge.

In the light of my timely gesture, as G20 leaders meet in London in a desperate bid to fix their failed management of the global economy, I would like to offer Gordon Brown my advice – since he used to like it well enough when he was chancellor: seeing as you too can expect early retirement in the near future, Gordon, take a good long look in the mirror and ask yourself if you are worth your pension.