RBS man in America will pocket £7m

ROYAL Bank of Scotland's US director Larry Fish is being rewarded for his acquisition drive with a pay package that could scoop him an annual package of at least £7m in cash and options.

Fish stands to gain up to five times his salary in short and medium-term bonuses plus 2.5 times his salary in share options.

On top of that, another long-term incentive plan is being proposed to shareholders. Fish's basic pay also rises 28% to nearly £800,000.

The 59-year-old has always been one of RBS's best-paid directors but Citizens, the New England retail bank he runs, has doubled in size in the last year. After the £5.8bn acquisition of Ohio-based Charter One last May, RBS derives 25% of its profits from the US.

RBS said in its annual report that Fish's package was reviewed 'as a result of the acquisition of Charter One' to bring him into line with 'market levels of total remuneration for chairmen and executives of US banks of similar size and complexity'.

Fish was paid £2.8m last year, including a £1.6m bonus and £500,000 in longterm incentives. The world's fifth-largest bank, which owns insurer Direct Line, will be hoping that the debate over fat-cat pay is not reignited. Some UK shareholders struggle to swallow the massive pay deals that are offered to powerful Americans working for British companies.

RBS chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin pocketed £3.1m, including a maximum performance bonus of £1.5m and £600,000 in medium-term incentives. But it is less than the £3.4m he trousered last year, when he collected a bigger bonus for the successful integration of NatWest. Profits at RBS soared to £8.1bn.

Charles 'Bud' Koch, whose family shared £64m from the Charter One takeover, gets £50,000 a year as a non-executive, plus £211,000 in annual consulting fees.