Lord Myners exposes Sir Fred’s cash machine fettish

by Gill Montia

Story link: Lord Myners exposes Sir Fred’s cash machine fettish

A revisiting of the pension arrangements for former Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) chief executive, Sir Fred Goodwin, has led to the extraordinary claim that the cash machine at RBS’s headquarters at Gogarburn dispensed only notes bearing Sir Fred’s signature.

Speaking in the House of Lords, Financial Services Secretary, Lord Myners, made the claim when replying to a question from Lord O’Neill of Clackmannan’s about the legality of notes issued by RBS and bearing Sir Fred’s signature.

Lord Myners told peers that he had been “advised” that the disgraced Sir Fred employed a member of staff “whose sole job was to ensure that bank notes dispensed from automatic telling machines in that headquarters building bore his signature”.

The extraordinary response may have been tempted out of Lord Myners when he saw an opportunity to gain the upper hand in his relationship with Sir Fred, which was known to be hostile even before the pension row.

To set the record straight on Scottish bank notes, Bank of Scotland, RBS and Clydesdale issue the notes and there are around £3 billion worth in circulation.