News / International
Former RBS banker joins Mugabe's league stripped of knighthood
01 Feb 2012 at 10:23hrs | Views
Former Royal Bank of Scotland boss Fred Goodwin has had his knighthood removed like the Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, Anthony Blunt, the keeper of the Queen's pictures, the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and the Irish patriot Roger Casement.
Mr Goodwin, who was heavily criticised over his role in the bank's near-collapse in 2008, was given the honour by the Labour government in 2004.
The Queen cancelled and annulled the title following Whitehall advice.
In the past, only convicted criminals or people struck off professional bodies have had knighthoods taken away.
Robert Mugabe's honorary Knighthood was annulled by the Queen in June 2008.
Mugabe, condemned over violence ahead of a presidential run-off election, was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1994.
The knighthood was withdrawn as Gordon Brown announced "intensified sanctions" and a cricket tour was called off.
And former South African leader Nelson Mandela spoke in London of a "tragic failure of leadership" in Zimbabwe.
Mr Goodwin oversaw the multi-billion-pound deal to buy Dutch rival ABN Amro at the height of the financial crisis in 2007, which led to RBS having to be bailed out to the tune of £45bn by taxpayers.
There had been a growing clamour for Mr Goodwin to be stripped of his honour following thousands of job losses at RBS and in the banking industry since then, and the impact on the wider economy.
'Exceptional case'
After the removal of the knighthood, a Cabinet Office spokesman said: "The scale and severity of the impact of his actions as CEO of RBS made this an exceptional case."
He added: "Both the Financial Services Authority and the Treasury Select Committee have investigated the reasons for this failure and its consequences.
"They are clear that the failure of RBS played an important role in the financial crisis of 2008/9 which, together with other macroeconomic factors, triggered the worst recession in the UK since the Second World War and imposed significant direct costs on British taxpayers and businesses.
"Fred Goodwin was the dominant decision-maker at RBS at the time. In reaching this decision, it was recognised that widespread concern about Fred Goodwin's decisions meant that the retention of a knighthood for 'services to banking' could not be sustained."
Mr Goodwin, who was heavily criticised over his role in the bank's near-collapse in 2008, was given the honour by the Labour government in 2004.
The Queen cancelled and annulled the title following Whitehall advice.
In the past, only convicted criminals or people struck off professional bodies have had knighthoods taken away.
Robert Mugabe's honorary Knighthood was annulled by the Queen in June 2008.
Mugabe, condemned over violence ahead of a presidential run-off election, was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1994.
The knighthood was withdrawn as Gordon Brown announced "intensified sanctions" and a cricket tour was called off.
Mr Goodwin oversaw the multi-billion-pound deal to buy Dutch rival ABN Amro at the height of the financial crisis in 2007, which led to RBS having to be bailed out to the tune of £45bn by taxpayers.
There had been a growing clamour for Mr Goodwin to be stripped of his honour following thousands of job losses at RBS and in the banking industry since then, and the impact on the wider economy.
'Exceptional case'
After the removal of the knighthood, a Cabinet Office spokesman said: "The scale and severity of the impact of his actions as CEO of RBS made this an exceptional case."
He added: "Both the Financial Services Authority and the Treasury Select Committee have investigated the reasons for this failure and its consequences.
"They are clear that the failure of RBS played an important role in the financial crisis of 2008/9 which, together with other macroeconomic factors, triggered the worst recession in the UK since the Second World War and imposed significant direct costs on British taxpayers and businesses.
"Fred Goodwin was the dominant decision-maker at RBS at the time. In reaching this decision, it was recognised that widespread concern about Fred Goodwin's decisions meant that the retention of a knighthood for 'services to banking' could not be sustained."
Source - Byo24News
