A £4billion lawsuit by RBS shareholders against the bank and former directors including Fred Goodwin will kick off within weeks, after campaigners secured insurance against losing the case. The RBoS Shareholder Action Group told members it had reached an ‘important milestone’ by securing litigation cover, which would pay the other side’s legal costs if the claim is unsuccessful. Sources familiar with the group’s preparations said that the beginning of legal action was now ‘imminent’, with law firm Bird & Bird set to issue RBS with a claim before the end of the month. Some 100 institutions and more than 12,000 private shareholders have signed up to the RBoS Action Group, which claims investors were misled into taking part in the bank’s disastrous 2008 rights issue....Read more here: RBS investors to file £4bn lawsuit against Fred Goodwin and former directors
Fred Goodwin, the disgraced former boss of Royal Bank of Scotland, faces demands to hand back up to £6 million in bonuses earned at the height of the rate rigging scandal. The state backed bank is preparing to appeal to Goodwin and former RBS investment bank chief Johnny Cameron to voluntarily give up their awards after deciding that the chances of successful legal action would be slim. But these efforts to ‘appeal to their better nature’ were described last night as ‘laughable’ by critics. The news came as chief executive Stephen Hester also faced growing pressure to forfeit a £2 million bonus awarded in 2010.....Read more here