Billions-losing RBS pays £607m bonus

The blatant two-fingers to taxpayers angered unions and came as RBS, which is 82 per cent owned by the state, reported a loss of £5.2 billion last year.

Its losses widened from £1.2bn in 2011 - its fifth loss in a row - after it paid a £390m settlement for fixing a key financial market rate and revealed that it would be setting aside another £1.1bn to cover mis-selling claims.

Investment bankers will receive £215m of the bonus pot.

The Unite union said since RBS was bailed out in 2008 to the tune of £45bn 30,000 jobs have been lost at the bank, hitting ordinary workers who played no part in the financial crisis or the scandals.

Unite national officer Dominic Hook said: "RBS has slashed and burned the jobs of ordinary bank staff while the bosses turned a blind eye to price fixing and mis-selling.

"Jobs of bank workers in call centres and branches up and down Britain must not be sacrificed to pay for this gross mismanagement of leadership at RBS.

"Hester is right to want to reward staff in line with their contribution. That should mean capping bonuses for top bankers who caused the crisis and addressing low pay at the bank where many staff have to claim benefits."

The bank tried to put a positive spin on the bonuses by explaining that it was "recouping" £302m from the bonus pot to go towards the rate-fixing settlement.

RBS chief executive Stephen Hester said the bank had come through a "chastening" year and its chairman Sir Philip Hampton said "although we've had a difficult year I think we're on track for recovery.

"It will be for the government to decide when it sells its shares and how much they can get for them. Our job is to put the bank fully back on its feet."

He added that bonuses were a quarter of what they were four or five years ago.