Food & Drink0 min ago
Sir Freddie Goodwin
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If you were he, would you give up part of your pension?
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julnar....I sympathise with you, but at the start of the contract which involves details of your pension, you do not know whether or not you are going to be successful or a failure. The smart boys have the clause well written.
NOW..... the Government siad that they didn't know anything about that until a couple of weeks ago.
Sir Freddie said......"Oh yes they did"
Pick the bones out of that.
NOW..... the Government siad that they didn't know anything about that until a couple of weeks ago.
Sir Freddie said......"Oh yes they did"
Pick the bones out of that.
The great phrase always used in order to secure these contract is -
"We have to pay these rates in order to secure the very best person for the job ..."
whereas increasingly this proves to be far from the case!
In answer to your question - I wouldn't give them a penny back.
If my employers were dumb enough to assume I was bright enough to justify a cast-iron contract that secured me a pension like this even if I destroyed the company, then I would laugh all the way to the bank.
That said, if it were me, and I had an eight-figure bank balance already, I would donate the pension to charity.
"We have to pay these rates in order to secure the very best person for the job ..."
whereas increasingly this proves to be far from the case!
In answer to your question - I wouldn't give them a penny back.
If my employers were dumb enough to assume I was bright enough to justify a cast-iron contract that secured me a pension like this even if I destroyed the company, then I would laugh all the way to the bank.
That said, if it were me, and I had an eight-figure bank balance already, I would donate the pension to charity.
I think the issue here is not whether he was entitled to his pension, it is about whether he should have been allowed to go on early retiral and claim his pension now at age 50 rather than being sacked and having to wait until the normal reirement date. I think that sends the entirely wrong message and he should have to wait and see what if anything his pension will be worth by the time he retires. I was made redundant from RBS as part of the losses when they bought out Nat West, and I have to wait and I didn't lose the company billions of pounds!
The fault lies squarely with the industry boards who create these cas-iron contracts which build in massive share options and pensions regardless of performance.
The government appears to have been woefully lax in not investigating this contract before Sir Freddie was allowed to walk away with this pension.
It now turns out that the pension award was at the discretion of the bank - but no-one at the Treasury bothered to question them about why Sir Freddie was being allowed to take his pension at fifty.
They got what they deserved - the board for being naive to the point of stupidity, the government for being seriously ignorant of the systems in an industry to which they have pledged billions of pounds of public money, and Sir Freddie, who is laughing all the way to (someone else's) bank having taken his employers for the fools they are.
The government appears to have been woefully lax in not investigating this contract before Sir Freddie was allowed to walk away with this pension.
It now turns out that the pension award was at the discretion of the bank - but no-one at the Treasury bothered to question them about why Sir Freddie was being allowed to take his pension at fifty.
They got what they deserved - the board for being naive to the point of stupidity, the government for being seriously ignorant of the systems in an industry to which they have pledged billions of pounds of public money, and Sir Freddie, who is laughing all the way to (someone else's) bank having taken his employers for the fools they are.
No one could say in all honesty what we would do unless we were in such a privileged position(I WISH!!!)
Therefore it's all very well adopting a moral stance and berating this guy when none of us (presumably) is or has been in a similar situation.
I do accept, however, that we are all entitled to a view, hence the reason I'm sticking in my tuppence worth!
Therefore it's all very well adopting a moral stance and berating this guy when none of us (presumably) is or has been in a similar situation.
I do accept, however, that we are all entitled to a view, hence the reason I'm sticking in my tuppence worth!
Fair point squad - I think I'll just keep the lot!
Parafin - i can say that is what i would do for one simple reason.
In order to be in the position of someone offered a deal like this, I would already have had to prove myself to be devoid of anything approaching an empathy with the rest of the human race, combined with an ego the size f a large planet, and the unshakeable belief that I was - and still am - worth every penny.
That is what Sir Fred would say if he was honest.
Meanwhile he can watch Brown and Darling make empty threats, and enjoy the fact that this instance has added a new media buzz-phrase - the 'clawback' - which means that the government are trying (and failing) to get back money which they were stupid enough to let go in the first place.
Parafin - i can say that is what i would do for one simple reason.
In order to be in the position of someone offered a deal like this, I would already have had to prove myself to be devoid of anything approaching an empathy with the rest of the human race, combined with an ego the size f a large planet, and the unshakeable belief that I was - and still am - worth every penny.
That is what Sir Fred would say if he was honest.
Meanwhile he can watch Brown and Darling make empty threats, and enjoy the fact that this instance has added a new media buzz-phrase - the 'clawback' - which means that the government are trying (and failing) to get back money which they were stupid enough to let go in the first place.
No I would not...
Hats off to Sir Freddie Goodwin - What a genuis!
The goverment want his pension back, but the man had the sense to get it signed off by the goverments top brass, now they are going back on their word & legal agreements...
Never mind Freddies' pension - whether he deserves it or not. What about the idiot that signed off the agreement in the first place - The whole credit crunch is down to the miss management of the situation by the goverment - The buck stops with them.
If they are asking for Freddies pension to be returned does that mean that all ministers involved with the RBS fiasco are going to give their pensions back as well...
I doubt it.
And John Prescott inciting ministers to renege on an agreed legal contract, should face criminal proceedings...
Stop wasting our money bailing out the banks and start some of these social projects that you guys promised to increase employment....
And whilst I'm moaning about miss management - why don't car manufacturers cut the price of all the cars stored at the docks... That would increase sales and would keep people in their jobs..
Hats off to Sir Freddie Goodwin - What a genuis!
The goverment want his pension back, but the man had the sense to get it signed off by the goverments top brass, now they are going back on their word & legal agreements...
Never mind Freddies' pension - whether he deserves it or not. What about the idiot that signed off the agreement in the first place - The whole credit crunch is down to the miss management of the situation by the goverment - The buck stops with them.
If they are asking for Freddies pension to be returned does that mean that all ministers involved with the RBS fiasco are going to give their pensions back as well...
I doubt it.
And John Prescott inciting ministers to renege on an agreed legal contract, should face criminal proceedings...
Stop wasting our money bailing out the banks and start some of these social projects that you guys promised to increase employment....
And whilst I'm moaning about miss management - why don't car manufacturers cut the price of all the cars stored at the docks... That would increase sales and would keep people in their jobs..
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