LONDON (AP) — Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester will not be accepting a 1 million pound ($1.5 million) bonus that drew criticism from British politicians, the bank said Sunday.
Spokesman David Gaffney said Hester would not receive the bonus of 3.6 million shares he was awarded last week.
The British government spent 45 billion pounds bailing out RBS three years ago. It still owns an 82 percent stake, and politicians had criticized the reward at a time when Britons face painful spending cuts and tax hikes.
The decision follows Saturday's announcement that RBS chairman Philip Hampton was waiving his own bonus of 1.4 million pounds in shares.
Hester and Hampton were brought in after Fred Goodwin, who led RBS's ill-fated takeover of Dutch bank ABN Amro, stepped down in October 2008 as the government was spending billions to prop up the bank.
The board of directors decided last week to award Hester a bonus of 3.6 million shares — worth just under 1 million pounds at Friday's closing share price of 27.74 pence.
Prime Minister David Cameron said Saturday that Hester's bonus was "a matter for him," but pointed out it was much less than last year's.
Other senior politicians were sharply critical of the award, and on Sunday the opposition Labour Party said it would force a vote in the House of Commons next month calling for Hester to be stripped of his bonus.
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