Can Sir Fred be sued?

Short of a furious mob of RBS shareholders storming Sir Fred's Edinburgh mansion and making off in his car collection, a key question in the 'Fred the Shred' saga is: can the wretched banker be sued successfully? The answer seems to be 'yes.'

Cherie Booth, wife of former Prime Minister Tony Blair, has been engaged on a 'no-win, no-fee' basis to fight a class action in US courts by pension funds that held RBS shares. The crux of the case is likely to be the claim that Sir Fred 'falsely reassured' investors that the bank was sound when he should have known it was in effect insolvent. Mrs Blair is unlikely to have accepted the case if she didn't think it was winnable.

On the famous £703,000 p.a. pension, Treasury minister Lord Myners told a Parliamentary select committee that RBS directors 'consistently misdirected themselves in saying that Sir Fred's pension reflected his contractual entitlement', whereas most of it was non-contractual, and therefore did not have to be paid. Why the RBS board chose to shower a failed banker with non-contractual money is unknown.

But their behaviour suggests that legal action may be possible to claw back at least some of the pension on behalf of the British taxpayer who now owns 70% of the bank.

Sir Fred Goodwin's car collection:

Range Rover Vogue

 
Rover 45 1.8 Club

Ferrari 360 Stradale

Mercedes E240 Elegance

Ferrari 550 Maranello

Jaguar S Type 3.0SE

Triumph Stag

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