RBS: Still run by ‘spivs and speculators’?

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has been accused of cronyism following allegations that an unqualified individual was handed a top role and given a bumper wage because of his friendship with a boss.

Unite said the allegations were symptomatic of a banking industry “that cannot shake off the image that it is run by greedy and incompetent spivs and speculators”.

The whistleblower, who spoke to the Press Association anonymously, said RBS is not investigating the claims seriously enough.

According to the whistleblower, the man was allegedly made a team leader on the bank’s Amethyst project, which oversees specialist reviews of individual investments and the strategies that inform them.

The whistleblower said the man’s colleagues opposed his appointment because he did not hold the relevant qualifications for the role, which required at least a level four financial planning diploma, and did not know what an open ended investment company was.

The whistleblower said, “You could not expect to be a team leader without having this knowledge. There were times when his team wanted to challenge decisions, but he had no knowledge and couldn’t.

“It was another ‘yes man’ put in place for the project overall. With no experience of investments, he wouldn’t even be offered one of the admin roles for the project in normal course of events.”

Double the pay of colleagues 

The whistleblower said the man received double the pay of his qualified colleagues and maintained his position even when more experienced and suitably qualified staff were removed from the project.

A Unite spokesman said, “If true, then these allegations completely undermine the RBS CEO’s attempts to create a bank that is regarded as number one for trust, service and advocacy.

“Ten years on from the financial crisis, the industry cannot shake off the image that it is run by greedy and incompetent spivs and speculators.”

RBS said the allegations, which it has known about since July, were being investigated but that “no conclusions have been reached at this stage”.