For attention of
Sir Philip Hampton, chairman
Royal Bank of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland
From
Helen Dunne, columnist
January 30, 2012
Dear Sir Philip,
Please forgive the cold-calling nature of this letter. We did meet many years ago, when you were finance director of Lloyds TSB and I was a banking journalist attending the results briefings.
I may have wowed you with a question about capital ratios or net interest margins, or perhaps I sat there quietly taking it all in.
Anyway, the point of this letter is to announce that I am not interested in the post of CEO for Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) should it become available.
I am all too aware that I may not top the list of potential candidates, but with all the pressure to put female candidates in executive positions and given that I have a vague understanding of capital markets, well, stranger things have happened.
But, bluntly, why would anyone want the job? I feel sorry for Stephen Hester (and, believe me, those are words I never thought I’d write).
He took over a bank in disarray, but then found it was in even worse shape than his wildest nightmares.
If Hester does well, the British taxpayers, who own 83 percent of RBS, do well. But we don’t want him to do well along the way.
He has now succumbed to political and media pressure and announced the return of his annual bonus, to which he was apparently entitled, having hit certain predetermined targets.
That bonus was paid in shares worth £963,000 ($1.5 mn); last year, RBS’ shares fell by more than one third. I’d like to think having Hester’s financial interests so closely aligned with his performance is to our advantage, but let’s be honest: there’s much more to be done with RBS so chances are the shares will go down further before they rise.
Hester is already rich. The tabloids keep printing pictures of his houses – an £8 mn house in west London, a 350-acre estate in Oxfordshire, a ski chalet in Verbier – so I doubt £963,000 worth of shares will dramatically change things.
The role of RBS CEO guarantees extensive press intrusion into your personal life, constant criticism you’re not working hard enough to sort out a mess not of your making, and overwhelming anger when you receive any financial reward, so I wouldn’t blame Hester for considering his (exit) options.
But with all the political opprobrium leveled at him, it might be impossible to find a replacement. Count me out.
Yours ever,
Helen
Helen Dunne is editor of CorpComms in London.
