State-backed RBS to hand out £500m in bonuses despite being embroiled in string of humiliating scandals

• Royal Bank of Scotland expected to post huge losses this year
• Due in part to huge fines for Libor rate fixing and mis-selling of PPI
• Recently accused of crippling small businesses to buy up property
• Despite this staff are in line for £500milllion in bonuses

RBS is set to reward its bankers with bonuses of £500million this year, despite plunging losses at the taxpayer-backed lender.
The bank has been embroiled in a string of humiliating scandals, from rigging market rates and mis-selling to accusations it crippled small businesses.
But the group is poised to award a vast bonus pool to its staff yet again.

The Royal Bank of Scotland is due to hand out £500million in bonuses to staff despite losses, fines for involvement in the Libor rate fixing scandal and mis-selling of PPI and fresh allegations of crippling small businesses

The shocking revelation comes just days after extraordinary figures showed that City bankers saw their pay rise by more than a third last year.
The top 2,700 enjoyed an average pay packet of £1.6million - in stark contrast to millions of families struggling to make ends meet.
Despite claims that the bonus culture has been cooled in the wake of the financial crash, British bankers are now the highest paid in Europe.
Critics said this showed a return of ‘Gordon Gekko’-style greed.

RBS, which had a bonus pool of £900million last year, has been forced to shell out hundreds of millions of pounds in fines over a number of misdemeanours.
The group was fined £390million in the wake of the market manipulation scandal, where traders rigged the £180 trillion Libor rate.
It has also set aside £2.6billion to compensate millions who were mis-sold PPI insurance.
This year it is expected to report deep financial losses.
Deborah Hargreaves, from the High Pay Centre, said: ‘Because it is a state owned bank you would like to see it setting an example.
‘RBS says that if it didn’t pay bonuses its top traders would leave. We should call their bluff. Are the type of people we want those who are motivated purely by money?’
She added: ‘Most people would struggle to understand when you are being paid a very sizable salary why you need that bonus anyway.’

The bank was bailed out by £45million during the collapse and is still 82 per cent owned by the taxpayer

The bank has been forced to call in lawyers Clifford Chance after admitting some of its lending practices had driven small firms to the wall.
The group was accused of putting companies into bankruptcy before buying up their property.
Fresh accusations yesterday said that the bank pushed companies into administration by demanding repayments of loans at difficult times.
In several instances, the bank was said to have demanded money back earmarked for tax payments.
RBS was bailed out by the taxpayer in 2008 for £45billion, and is still 82per cent owned by the government.
Chief executive Stephen Hester was parachuted in to run the bank, but quit earlier this year after a tenure that saw him forced to give up his bonus several times.
Government plans to sell shares back to the markets, thus reimbursing the taxpayer, have hit a snag.
Plans were delayed by a debate over whether the group should be split into a ‘good bank’ and a ‘bad bank’, holding toxic assets.
A spokesman for the bank said: ‘No decisions have been taken on 2013 pay and any speculation is premature.
‘Variable pay has been reformed dramatically at RBS and is now a fraction of what it was before the crisis.’