The chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland said sorry to shareholders today ahead of a yes vote on the bank's £20 billion Government bail-out package.

At the group’s extraordinary meeting, Sir Tom McKillop expressed his “profound” regret over the proposed plan, which could put nearly 60 per cent of RBS in public hands.

The veteran businessman told shareholders, who had gathered in Edinburgh to vote: “In over 40 years of my working life I have had many difficult experiences but none like this.”

He insisted: “At all times we have sought to ensure that the best interests of shareholders have been protected.”

RBS shares have fallen by 87 per cent this year as the bank was forced to raise new capital and give the British Government a stake in return for a further capital injection. The Government could end up owning more than half of RBS as part of the deal.

The bank has been forced to write down more than £6 billion worth of assets from its balance sheet.

Sir Tom denied that the €71 billion takeover of Dutch bank ABN Amro, undertaken last year as part of a consortium, was responsible for RBS’s current state.

He said: “The timing of the ABN Amro acquisition has added to our difficulties.

“The acquisition of ABN Amro may now be seen with hindsight as having increased our exposure to the emerging crisis, but it did not cause it.”

Sir Tom, 65, who was chief executive of AstraZeneca before becoming chairman of RBS, is set to leave the bank in April. His replacement has not yet been announced.

The departure of chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin, who will be succeeded by Stephen Hester, chief executive of British Land, was announced last month.

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