What this man has done is tantamount to fraud. He persuaded shareholders to participate in a rights issue which was based on the false premise that the capital raised was sufficient to see the bank through any crisis. This was patently false and he should not be paid another penny.

P Delmont, Plettenberg Bay, South Africa

If RBS was not rescued by we the taxpayers, it would go bust from it's already bust position.
The Govenment should tell Fred that he should recieve no final payoff from taxpayers money, as he would not recieve any from the recievers!

Gino Francesco, Hastings,

He's a qualified accountant otherwise he would not have been a partner in Touche Ross - so he is well qualified for this role.

The bonuses of such people are a drop in the ocean compared to the £ Brown is throwing away, and the age of irresponsibility under Blair and Brown is there for all to see

bill, Knaresborough,

what i dont understand is that none of these bankers have been subject to criminal proceedings.
sure they are culpable of the same actions as iceland and should be subject tot he same laws.
a nuremburg trial for bankers perhaps.

billy, edinburgh,

The big thing about this is that the Scots will be too scared to vote for independence and can be exploited further by Westminster.
Mr G W Brown will survive in Glenrothes and go on to further triumphs. Such is fate

wxalexander, Delta, Canada

Well if someone give me half his pension I shall worship the person for ever.

raj, harrow, uk

Sir Fred lost the Midas touch of a true Scotsman"how to turn a piece of coal into a diamond"

GWSmith, Adelaide, Australia

1. Susanne from Scotland - he has a law degree, he isn't a lawyer. They are different.

2. ABN Amro was a mistake (and an act of hubris) but it was a Class 1 acquisition which means it required shareholder approval. So a majority of the shareholder base approved the acquisition. Blame them too.

Claire, Edinburgh,

After a day of trying to push overpriced loans on a footflow of uninterested pensioners and unemployed, my NatWest bank manager wife had to justify herself to her superior's loaded question: "Why did you *choose* not to sell, today?" Fred, you've just been Performance Managed out. Good riddance!

Scoby, Newport, UK

How was Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) legally able to acquire both Citizens Bank and also Charter One Bank in the US? I had thought that a foreign bank such as RBS was not legally permitted to own a majority stake in an American bank.

Richard, Indianapolis, USA/Indiana

".... I'm guessing none of you work in the financial sector." Lorna, Edinburgh

You guess right Lorna, but as I (as a taxpayer) now own this bank you'd better start listening to ME on the topic of who is to blame.

Roy Grainger, London,

It really seems to me that we now seriously need to reconsider making taxation progress into taxing the rich more. At the moment it progresses comfortably into the middle classes but then it does'nt go any higher than 40%. Fred and all the other cheats should be taxed out of existence.

David Sutherland, Oxted,

The disapointing thing is that customer service, professionalism, and friendliness at my local RBS branch is excellent. There are no call centres, everything is dealt with at the branch and you can phone straight in.
I hope all the good stuff does not get dumped trying to deal with the bad...

Iain, stornoway, scotland

Sir Fred has been a prominent and respected member of the Scottish banking community for years, heading up the most successful Scottish Bank of all time. To imply that this is entirely his fault is ignorant and naive. I'm guessing none of you work in the financial sector.

Lorna, Edinburgh,

If he had any shred of decency, he would hand most of his former remuneration back. However he is, of course, a banker.

Martin, Leighton Buzzard,

Now I know why Natwest, became the worst Bank in the world. No personal service, executives attack you if you ask what they have done with that instruction you gave them. They are an arrogant lot and unforgiveably but probably purposefully, inefficient. Fred the shred, good riddance!

maddison, london, england

This is again the repetition of both past and present drive toward total out n out greed, if the small person failed to perform well in their employment they would be 'DISMISSED', forthwith, no discussion and certinally no severance or bonus of any sort. An out right scandal!!!!!!!

P. Wright, Purley, UK

Suzanne from Scotland is spot-on, excluding typos.

Buster, Birmingham,

RBS is effectively bankrupt. Without taxpayers money it would no longer exist. Why then should the bank be obliged to honour the terms of its contract with the man who brought it to this pass?

sheila, LEICESTER, England

Sack him with no pay-off and let him sue the bank or take them to a tribunal. Then we can get to see and hear what he was up to. If nothing else and he wins he'll have to wait a year for his cash.

Incompetence is incompetence whether you are a banker or a peasant like me.

David, Dubai, UAE

"Right said Fred
Both of us together
One each end and steady as we go. ... "

Exit Fred, with pots of our money, followed after a pause, by flush Gordon?

Richard, Chesterfield, UK

The failure of the banks was caused by a combination of excessive optimism, greed and bad judgement by senior bank executives. When the Yank bankers dived into the sub-prime mortgage market the hopeless Brits followed like lemmings - where was all that experience and judgement then ? Sack them all !

Dr. Jimmy, Nottingham, England

How is it that a lawyer is a CEO of a bank? This is exactly part of the problem: too many of ‘lay players’ is positions for which they lack basic knowledge. This is also true for politicians: having a degree in history is different from having a degree in economics and actually knowing something about the economy. Part of the problem with the current situation is that due to lack of knowledge in a certain area they can’t even see where they went wrong. Let’s learn form this for once and change the requirements for these positions: not who you know should decide but what you know and can prove you know is the lynch pin of getting a position. Wouldn’t that be a brave new world!?

Susanne, Scotland,

"...(including £2.86 million performance bonus)"

As he didn't "perform" please ensure he re-pays the £2.86m bonus & refuses any pay-out. He should lose his knighthood too.

Lawyers who draw up contracts which reward failure should be sued for negligence & failure of duty of care.

isobel, ashford, uk

Most parastatals, banks, utilities, and high street chain stores appear to be run by a Sir Somebody. Whether the old-boys network requires the Sir for the job, or whether it confers the Sir on the incumbent once he's caused sufficient carnage, is hard to say.

John, Reading, UK

In 1995 Labour, not banking Executives, agreed to put "power, wealth and opportunity in the hands of the many not the few" through a "dynamic market economy", the enterprise of the market ... " . The results of the abolition of Clause Four of the Party's pledge is very clear to taxpayers !

jean baker, Guildford, Surrey

Old fred here must be laughing all the way to the bank. (Not sure which one)
It is alleged on the grapevine rewards for efforts, which can only be described as abject and bubbling incompetence is a pension of some £580k/annum.
Don't suppose he will ever be in the queue for the soup kitchen?

Mike O Connor, Plymouth,

He was knighted by Brown in 2004 for services to banking. Ha ha ha. Will Brown who led us into this mess during his useless chancellorship now resign or take back the knighthood. No way - he is a two faced politician. I will never ever vote Labour. This week we will Have a Lord Mandelson! Sickening!

Frederick, London, UK

Why, if he has resigned, should he be entitled to severance pay? You won't find that sort of deal available to the hoi polloi.

Bill Q, Derby,

What other employment can you be paid millions for failure. Wake up UK your tax is about to be given to yet another knight of the realm.

Graham C. Moore, Castelnau de montmiral, France

About time. From former treasury consultant to NatWest

Richard Prior, Stanstead Abbotts,

Amazing how many of these criminals/ failures have knighthoods and/or other ' honours' !
Always good for a laugh though !
No wonder that people have lost faith in the monarchy - roll on the Republic !

OZ, Perth, Australia

The government should just tell him to walk
with no pay out, his bank has lost alot of money. Why should he be paid for incompetence, what about people with money in the bank who could have been left high and dry with out the governments input.

Baz, Christchurch,

this guy has been rash beyond belief and has driven a great bank into the ground thru his megalomania and ambition..
if he gets a single penny of taxpayers money towrds his payoff then that would be intolerable and absolute disgarace.
he should be publically sacked and eave with a minimum sum.

Steve Timms, Edinburgh, UK

Hmmm.
Cash-call 2007 £12 billion.
Share price 2007 560p.
Share price 2008 72p.
Write-offs £6 billion.
Bonus 2007 £2.86 million.
Pension Pot £8.37 million.
Cost to rescue by Tax-payer £20 billion.
Thanks Fred.

Alan Hargreaves, Holywell, UK

Why do you want to put the boot in to the chief executive? The past bonuses are effectively part of his salary; are you aware of other employees being asked to give up already paid salary?

Slippery slope this one!

Alan Ward, Cullompton, England

RBS employs 170,000 people 100,000 of them in the UK.
Hardly job slashing. He keeps the identities of most of the companies he takes over and retains jobs. We don't need someone else to finish off the job and start adding their bit. It is obvious he is in it for the bank and not just personal goals

A S, London, UK

I would think everybody wil be speechless

Lilian, Sainte, France

I am a very angry RBS shareholder. Fred Goodwin has destroyed tens of billions of shareholders value. He spent £69 billions on NatWest and ABN as part of his ego building exercise. And now the bank was worth only £12b and onthe verge of bankruptcy? Goodwin should've been fired 10 times over.

Terry, London,

Golden parachutes to the top people in failed financial institutions is abhorrent to many. The Government should introduce a tax of 95% on such payments with effect from 1 April 2008 or payment should be made in shares of the Co at the share price current at the beginning of the year.

Rick Conway, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

How much of his past bonuses is he returning?

Michael Corby, London, UK