Daily Archives: February 26, 2009

Jim Pickard Boris avoids the transport select committee

February 26, 2009 6:22 pm by Jim Pickard

The jolly japester (sic) who runs London has been asked to appear in front of the transport select committe to explain why the city ground to a halt during recent snowfalls.

Boris Johnson was asked if he could come in before the committee of MPs in the next week or two. Sadly, his diary is far too busy for the next three months, according to one committee source. Problem is, he’ll have to appear, sooner or later; that’s the way the system works.

This apparent reluctance may or may not have anything to do with his last, uncomfortable appearance before a select committee.

Posted in UK politics |

Jim Pickard The RBS director (not Fred) with the $24m pension pot

February 26, 2009 3:03 pm by Jim Pickard

I’m sure there’s a mixed metaphor to be had here re a big fish across the pond.

But the RBS director with an equally impressive pension – according to RBS’s 2007 accounts – is one Larry (Lawrence) Fish, chair of the bank’s US operations. His pension pot was $24m at that point.

Fish was previously chief executive of Citizens, an RBS subsidiary in the US. Now a non-executive, he is set to quit the company before April.

Incidentally his pay in 2006 (£6.59m) was more than Fred the Shred (£3.99m).

Tags: , ,
Posted in Uncategorized |

Is Fred’s pot actually £25m?

February 26, 2009 11:37 am by Alex Barker

Has Pesto got his sums right? He reported that Sir Fred Goodwin is drawing a pension of £650,000 a year from a pot of about £16m. But if you take account of Goodwin “retiring” at 50, the maths doesn’t seem right.

The FSA’s handy pension calculator shows his total pension pot is closer to £25m. Yes, there’s even more cash for Alistair Darling to claw back.

The extra £9m was spotted by John Ralfe, the pensions consultant, who never seems to tire of fighting pension excess. For those who are interested, these are his workings:

I have used the FSA annuity website to calculate the cost of Sir Fred’s pension.

Age 50. Married spouse age 47, with 50% pension. Non smoker. Increasing with RPI. The best quote is to receive £2,580 a year for a £100,000 lump sum, ie a multiple of 38x.

To receive a £650,000 start pension, age 50, spouse age 47, with 50% pension, increasing with RPI costs £24.7m.

Tags: ,
Posted in Uncategorized |

Westminster blog

on the UK political scene

About this blog Blog guide
Jim Pickard and Kiran Stacey, FT Westminster correspondents, share the latest news and analysis on the UK's political scene.

Follow the latest news on the UK politics and policy.

To comment, please register for free with FT.com and read our policy on submitting comments.

All posts are published in UK time.

Contact the Westminster blog team: Jim Pickard, Kiran Stacey, Nicholas Timmins, Elizabeth Rigby and Helen Warrell.

The illustrations of Jim and Kiran are by Nick Hardcastle.

See the full list of FT blogs.

The authors

Jim Pickard joined the lobby team in January 2008. He has been at the Financial Times since 1999 as a regional correspondent, assistant UK news editor and property correspondent.

Kiran Stacey is an FT political correspondent, having joined the lobby in 2011. He started at the FT as a graduate trainee in 2008, working on desks including UK companies and US equity markets before taking over the FT's Energy Source blog.

Contributors

Elizabeth Rigby, the FT's chief political correspondent, joined the lobby team in September 2010. Elizabeth has worked at the FT for more than a decade and was most recently its consumer industries editor.

Helen Warrell is the FT's UK reporter, covering home affairs, crime and policing. She joined the FT in 2008 and has spent time as a reporter in the Brussels bureau and more recently, editing the paper's Asia coverage on the world news desk.

Archive

« Jan Mar »February 2009
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
232425262728