Anger of 30,000 savers RBS forgot

They won’t get a penny from £800m deal being offered to other investors

TENS of thousands of Royal Bank of Scotland shareholders will miss out on an £800m compensation pot because they failed to sign up to a lawsuit against the bank.

RBS has offered to pay the sum to shareholders who, in 2008, took part in a fundraising drive at the bank. It is being sued by five shareholder groups who claim they were misled over a £12bnrights issue before the bank was bailed out by the taxpayer.

The investors claim they were never told the true scale of the problems facing RBS at the time of the fundraising.

The out- of- court settlement is an attempt to keep disgraced exboss Fred Goodwin out of the witness stand over fears any evidence he gives could be damaging to the bank’s reputation.

Yesterday RBS said a settlement had been reached with three of the five groups.

One of those holding out is the RBoS Shareholder Action Group, which wants to take individual bank bosses to court as well as the institution. It represents about 27,000 small investors, close to half of about 60,000 who took part in the doomed rights issue.

It means approximately 30,000 investors have not got involved with any of the five lawsuits. They are set to miss out and will not get any compensation at all.

Financial commentator David Buik said: ‘The presentation of the rights issue in June 2008 was such that it seemed an opportunity not to be missed. It’s desperately sad so many small investors lost out, and in the circumstances it’s such a pity some of them haven’t joined this action.’

They could end up even further out of pocket because if the action group refuses the offer and takes the case to the High Court and wins, the final payment could be even higher.

The case would then head for a trial in March, which is likely to lay bare RBS’s failings in the run-up to the financial crisis.

Goodwin, who was stripped of his knighthood after the disastrous consequences of his reign came to light, would have to take the stand. His legal fees are being paid by the bank, which is still 73pc owned by the state. The groups which have settled the court case are represented by Stewarts Law, Quinn Emanuel and Mishcon de Reya.

Law firms Leon Kaye and Signature Litigation, which represents the action group, have yet to make a decision. A spokesman for the action group said: ‘We had no option but to reject this inadequate offer and remain committed to seeking justice for our members through the courts.’

The £800m will be split between all five groups if the remaining two settle. If they do not, then the three groups which did reach a deal will share around £618m, based on the proportion of the shareholders they represent.

RBS has made the settlement offer without any admission of liability and said it would defend itself in court if necessary.

Chief executive Ross McEwan said: ‘We are pleased to have reached this agreement and hope that it will be accepted by the remaining claimant groups.’