RBS braced for pay backlash

ROYAL Bank of scotland investors have been urged to vote down chief executive Ross Mcewan’s £3.6m ‘excessive pay packet’.

shareholder advisory firm Pirc said elements of the award are ‘inappropriate’, and said he was paid 46 times more than the average bank employee.

ahead of the bank’s annual general meeting next week, it took issue with Mr Mcewan’s total variable pay – at 211.1pc of salary – describing it as ‘excessive’, as it is over the recommended limit of 200pc.

Pirc recommends shareholders reject the 62.4pc-taxpayer- owned bank’s remuneration report.

the New Zealander’s pay packet last year was a £1m basic salary, a £1m fixed share allowance and a £1.1m long-term incentive award.

Pay awards are expected to come under close scrutiny over the coming months. investor advisory groups glass lewis and iss are recommending shareholders back RBs’s remuneration report.

Mcewan has presided over a return to profit at RBs, which in February reported its second successive year in the black and announced a £1.6bn final dividend, resulting in a near £1bn windfall for the taxpayer.