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Empresas y finanzas

RBS loses trio of bankers as bonus scrutiny builds


    LONDON (Reuters) - A trio of senior bankers have left Royal Bank of Scotland in recent days, likely headed for jobs elsewhere, as scrutiny builds on the size of bonuses the part-nationalized bank will pay this year.

    Steve Ashley, head of RBS's lucrative rates trading division, was the most senior of the departures.

    RBS also said Chris Fleming, head of flow rates sales for EMEA, and Andrew Foster, managing director for energy and resources at corporate broking unit Hoare Govett, have left.

    Foster was expected to join Morgan Stanley and the other two were also expected to have landed jobs elsewhere.

    There is intense scrutiny on how much banks will pay staff for 2009 and RBS is under particular pressure to limit payouts due to the government's 84 percent shareholding. Its bonuses have not been finalized, but were expected to total 1.0-1.5 billion pounds ($1.57-$2.35 billion) when it reports on February 25.

    RBS chief executive Stephen Hester has said the bank will pay "the minimum we can get away with" in the market place, adding the bank could lose talented staff if it has to cut back too aggressively.

    RBS announced a reorganization of its markets business that will integrate its rates, emerging markets, currency and interest rates and currency options and hybrids products into a business called Fixed Income (FICC).

    It will be run globally by co-heads Michael Lyublinsky and Peter Rading, who report into Peter Nielsen, global head of markets.

    (Reporting by Steve Slater; Editing by Dan Lalor)