RBS leaders spend nearly £1m of private cash on bank’s struggling shares

Three of the top bosses at 73 per cent taxpayer-owned Royal Bank of Scotland, including chief executive Ross McEwan, have ploughed almost £1million into buying the bank’s bombed-out shares in the wake of last week’s eighth successive pre-tax loss.

News of the losses sent RBS shares down more than seven per cent at the end of last week. Investors were doubly disappointed by the news that the bank does not expect to pay a dividend this year, either.

Mr McEwan, along with finance director, Ewen Stevenson, bought 200,000 shares each at 223p, investing £446,000 apiece, while chairman Sir Howard Davies picked up a more modest 40,000 shares at 222p, a cost of £88,000.

Mr McEwan received total remuneration last year of £3.8m and Mr Stevenson £1.9m, while Sir Howard’s fee is £750,000.

The bank reported a £2 billion loss, and a delay in the dividend until at least 2017. The shares fell seven per cent on the day to 226.6p, and yesterday they dropped a further 2.7p to 223.9p, valuing RBS at £26bn.

Lloyds Banking Group also said non-executive director Nick Prettejohn, chairman of Scottish Widows, bought 69,280 shares at 72.17p last Friday.

The Treasury’s 73 per cent shareholding in Edinburgh-based RBS is valued at more than £20bn.

Chancellor George Osborne has said he wants to sell £25bn of RBS shares alone by the end of the decade, although the bank’s share price will need to rise sharply between now and 2020 if the Treasury is to meet its target.