Goodwin among former RBS bosses called to give evidence in £4bn shareholders’ case

Disgraced former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Fred Goodwin has been named among a group of witnesses called on to give evidence in a £4 billion class action legal case brought against the still 73 per cent bailed-out bank by shareholders.

Mr Goodwin, who was stripped of his knighthood in the wake of his conduct prior to the banking crisis that almost ruined the Edinburgh-based lender, has been called upon by lawyers defending RBS.

The move means that the legal team representing the RBS Shareholders’ Action Group that claims stakeholders should have been better informed about the financial health of the bank, will be given the opportunity to question Mr Goodwin and three other former RBS directors - former chairman Tom McKillop, former executive director of the bank’s investment arm Johnny Cameron and ex-finance director Guy Whittaker.

The issue arose after a takeover by RBS of Dutch bank ABN Amro while Mr Goodwin was chief executive. Investors who bought shares sold in 2008 to stabilise the bank’s finances saw about 90 per cent wiped off the share price in months.

The Action Group’s lawyers are expected to grill the former bosses over the sequence of events that led to the bank’s demise and its subsequent £45bn bailout at taxpayers’ expense imposing loses on an estimated 63,000-plus small shareholders.

Many feel aggrieved because they believe they were not given the full picture about the health of the bank.

A spokesman for the RBS Action Group, which is attempting to sue Mr Goodwin, Mr McKillop, Mr Cameron and Mr Whittaker as well as RBS, said: “We are very much looking forward to the opportunity to question these high-profile former leaders of RBS on the witness stand.”

SNP deputy leader and Westminster spokesman Stewart Hosie said: “Given the RBS Action Group litigation covers a period when these gentlemen were at the helm, it is no surprise they have been listed as witnesses.

“I think the public will pay a great deal of attention to any evidence they may provide to identify even more clearly the culture that existed within RBS at that time.”

The action group is pursuing the civil court case, which is expected to go to trial in March next year, on behalf of thousands of investors who lost money by subscribing for shares during the 2008 RBS Rights Issue.

The Scotland on Sunday newspaper reported that Mr Goodwin, are set to give evidence in the court action that has been raised by the RBS Shareholders’ Action Group.