The boss of the UK’s second biggest bank will come face to face with shareholders today just a day after asking them for an unprecedented £12 billion cash injection.
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin could come under fire from investors at the group's annual general meeting in Edinburgh. RBS owns the Ulster Bank Group in Ireland.
Yesterday he unveiled details of a £12-billion rights issue to help shore up the bank's finances, as well a further £5.9 billion of credit crunch investment write-downs.
The cash injection - which will be the biggest of its kind seen in Europe - comes less than two months after Sir Fred pronounced the bank's capital satisfactory.
He said yesterday it was needed because "the world had changed" in the past two months.
The 49-year-old boss - who earned £4.2 million last year including a £2.9 million bonus - has dismissed talk of his resignation over the issue, saying he was "100 per cent focused" on moving the bank forward.
Today's meeting will not vote on the rights issue, instead covering other matters such as the approval of the group accounts, the directors' remuneration and the re-election of various board members.
But shareholders - several hundred of whom are expected to turn up - will have a chance to quiz management.
RBS's rights issue will be finalised over the coming months and see a small investor with 1,800 shares have to fork out £2,200 to maintain their shareholding. Chairman Sir Tom McKillop said yesterday he expected the move to be "pretty well-supported".
It forms part of a major refinancing for Britain’s second biggest banking group, which last year led the £49-billion acquisition of Dutch bank ABN Amro.
RBS has also announced the possible sale of its profitable insurance arm, which includes Churchill Insurance and Direct Line.
In February this year, RBS unveiled £2.5 billion of credit-crunch losses for 2007, but hiked profits during the year 9 per cent, to more than £10 billion.