Terry Murden: Dubious morality behind burning Goodwin at the stake

By Terry Murden
Published on Sunday 22 January 2012 00:00

OKAY, so Fred Goodwin screwed up. His bank nearly collapsed and a lot of people lost their jobs. It doesn’t get much worse. Except the former Royal Bank of Scotland boss didn’t break the law. Nor was there any evidence of malicious intent. Does he deserve continued vilification from those now demanding he forfeits his knighthood?

Truth is, the bankers may have been greedy, self-interested and reckless, but you can’t hang someone for being unpleasant or – more appropriately – for pursuing an ambition that had widespread support from those now eager to strike the first blow. Et Tu Brute?

Sir Fred Goodwin is the modern day witch, the sacrificial lamb. Burn him! Burn him! He has become the poster boy for the bank-bashers, hate figure for the Occupy Edinburgh/London campaigners and the johnny-come-lately politicians now crusading on a “moral capitalism” ticket. So, David Cameron, does that make your predecessor Lady Thatcher guilty of immoral behaviour? After all, it was under her watch that this greed-is-good culture kicked off.

The Royal Society of Edinburgh may now strip Goodwin of his fellowship. Amid the baying mob there are those prepared to take a more conciliatory view. Lord McConnell rightly says that what happened at the banks was a result of more than one man’s failings. The failure of RBS was systemic.

Goodwin could have tempered much of the continued hostility if he had shown more humility about his mistakes and not resisted those who demanded he cut his pension. It made him appear callous and indifferent to those who suffered for his errors. But if he’s to lose his knighthood for the bank’s collapse, then so should Sir Tom McKillop who was his chairman. What about others bestowed with honours who took their millions in advisory fees? The list, in fact, is a pretty long one.

We support those who have the desire to take a risk and build something great. But demanding public humiliation when it goes wrong is hardly the foundation for “moral capitalism”.

More choices for SEP and Vellacott

THE battle for control of technology firm IndigoVision ended with would-be bidder Scottish Equity Partners walking away, unable to strike a deal with the board.

SEP has a good track record in growing companies and reckoned it could have added value, but shareholders were not going to sell at any price and SEP was not prepared to meet the board’s valuation. The shares fell on Friday, but they didn’t collapse.

Shareholders believe the board has done them a favour by seeing off an opportunistic approach so it’s doubtful they would back ousted chief executive Oliver Vellacott if he returns with SEP or anyone else with another offer when the six-month deadline passes.

In the meantime, SEP and Vellacott have to decide whether to retain their joint 29.5 per cent holding. Selling out at a substantially higher price than they were prepared to offer might look a touch cynical.

Comments

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16

MrJaffa

Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 11:06 AM

#13 ......hmmmmm ....... perhaps we should investigate all peers and any who have committed adultery or broken their marriage vows should be stripped of their titles...........or perhaps not

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15

MrJaffa

Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 11:05 AM

#10 - brumell - 'Barclays apparently had the nous to realise that the price was too high and pulled out didn't they?' - about as factually incorrect as you are going to get ........ Barclays pulled out as they could not get the backing of 80% of ABN Amros sharelholders........ If they had got that backing...... then they would have continued to bid and in all likelihood won. So in summary, Barclays got lucky!....... and I would imagine the chief executive of Barclays thinks back on a regular basis and his heart skips a beat when he realises how close he was to being in Fred Goodwins position................... oh and of course....we would have then been hailing Fred Goodwin as a genius for not having bought ABN Amro.................... there for the grace of god and all that.........

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14

timbor

Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 09:29 AM

He should be allowed to keep his knighthood. Why not? But as they are in the mood for stripping him - how about a rummage though his closet - I'll take one of the pinstriped suits I've seen him wear, a shirt, and a necktie and his cufflinks. And a pair of his John Lobb brogues and a pair of his silk socks. After all, i don't see why he can't spread the wealth a bit. Maybe an extra pair of his shoes, too, but only if he can spare them. I don't want to leave the man barefoot. But let him keep the title.

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13

Strict Ivan Jellicoe

Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 09:02 AM

Sir Fred Goodwin is a fornicator and adulteror who broke his marriage vows.

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12

Scat Rabies

Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 08:52 AM

Sir Fred was created by socialists who mothballed proper regulation of the banks in their desperation for the tax revenue.This allowed them to continue with their utterly disastrous economic experiment , hence the UK current bankrupt status . I agree with No 5 that he should be allowed to keep his knighthood as a monument to the perils of socialism.It will also work as a deterrent should Blair and Brown ever be considered for honours .

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11

tometmon

Tuesday, January 24, 2012 at 07:12 AM

Surely the point is that not only has Goodwin apparently behaved badly both professionally and privately, but also that subsequently he seems to show no sign of acknowledging this or of any regret or contrition; and so it is for this reason that he should be stripped not only of his knighthood, but also the other benefits that he derived (e.g., pension, bonuses, etc.) from his actions.

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10

brumell

Monday, January 23, 2012 at 02:40 PM

#7 "ABN hid their failings" I thought that was the point of excercising due dilligence, Barclays apparently had the nous to realise that the price was too high and pulled out didn't they? I didn't say Goodwin was to blame for all the bankers' failings but he was to blame, with the connivance of RBS board, for this fiasco which, if the bank had been as successful as you seem to think, it would have survived. He should have had his pension greatly reduced and I would still like to see that happen, removing the knighthood is the least punishment that should befall him. To a man like Goodwin the more humiliation that can be heaped upon him the more it hurts.

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9

Griffe

Monday, January 23, 2012 at 11:35 AM

I hadn't realised that burning Goodwin at the stake was one of the options open to us

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8

andyglasgow

Monday, January 23, 2012 at 12:18 AM

Is there no situation the Sotsman won't get on the wrong side of? What the fool writing this doesn't understand is that far from being fed to a baying mob, Goodwin was not fired as he should have been. He was allowed to retire triggering obscene payments to someone, who if presented with an option would unerringly take the wrong one.. I bet if you asked this mob if they would rather leave this idiot penniless or remove his knighthood, they would also choose the former. My suspicion is Goodwin would rather keep his undeserved millions than his title. The RBS, supported by the Labour Party, conspired to remove our chance to strip Goodwin of his pension pot, at leat we can strip him of his title. No justice, no peace. You financial people need to realise that you messed up, you dropped the ball, you couldn't stand the heat. In no other field of enterprise does there exist such a high percentage of utter failures, yet you all insist you get millions or you will go elsewhere. Don't let the door smack your bottom on the way out.

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7

Dragonlord

Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 08:41 PM

6# The bank under Goodwin WAS a success. They paid Billions of pounds in taxes for years before the crash. ABN hid their failings and their governments finacial regulators are also to blame. The UK government ( under Brown ) is also to blame for their lack of control over banks and the finacial industry. I agree he should not have been given a golden hand shake and his pension should have been curbed but you can't blame the world's banking crash all on him.

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6

brumell

Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 01:04 PM

Not another apologist for the egomaniac who has caused misery for thousands. If this was US Goodwin would be in prison serving many years. Get real and look for ways to remove or reduce his pension as it was obtained by fraudulent means,i.e., the bank wasn't as successful as he portrayed it.

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5

Teaxxx

Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 12:37 PM

Imagine your child failing their SATS exams. Not the end of the world, but imagine the shock if she or he had previously been given an award for their outstanding accomplishment in the area they had now failed. Do you rip out the little gold stars on the pages of their homework and tear up there certificates, or do you focus your anger on the teachers and the school who continually praised the work of your little one and clearly were so detached from the real attainment ability of your little one. I would hope the latter. I make this analogy in connection with the recent debate to strip Fred Goodwin of his knighthood. I struggle to see how Fred Goodwin should be stripped of his Knighthood. The FSA, the previous government and the monarchy considered him deserving (what a joke) Let him keep it. His award highlights the whole system as a farce and we should let him keep it to remind us what it means each time that someone is knighted – Nothing! And next time we see the pomp and ceremony of the Queen anointing her knights with her sword for what they’ve’ given to society, she will in fact be giving us something– a good laugh!

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4

Mercutio

Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 08:06 AM

'Dear Fred' as he was once addressed should be allowed to keep his tacky bauble but his pension should be sequestrated.

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3

david

Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 06:41 AM

DAVID IN DUBAI Obviously Terry Murden was not a shareholder in RBS and has not lost money as a result of Sir Fred, stewardship or lack of. Sir Fred should also be stripped of his CA membership and could perhaps be nominated as the person who most destructed Scottish Banking and Scotland's Integrity. St Andrew's golf club membership blackballed him without a second thought . He is an example of greed overtaking wisdom. I agree he is not the only person involved in this debacle and the accountants , lawyers and advisors who scored enormous fees for these mistakes should also be taken to task. Goodwin was the captain and he should fall on his sword or gone down with the ship. The basic rule on the takeover of ABN is that you do not pay over all the money until the next years results are confirmed . This was missed by the legion of dealmakers who just wanted to pay more than Barclays. The problem of course was that having done an excellent deal on Nat West Bank he thought he could repeat his luck I admire Goodwin for his brass neck as I think I would want to change my name , have plastic surgery to change my looks and move to a country where nobody knew me. We obviously need a set of rules on how to handle a situation in business where the Directors are responsible for the collapse af a major company. There is no point debating the issue . Gec was a similar story caused by Simpson who again retired into oblivion unscathed. the expression Scot free may be appropriate to Fred the Bed.

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2

Willie Boy

Sunday, January 22, 2012 at 02:23 AM

The guy is a fraudster. and Ponzi scheme operator who defrauded ordinary folks of their savings. If the corrupt regulatory bodies don;t deal with him, then another way should be found, Cancer in our midst needs to be rooted out.

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