Awards, Honours, Titles and Styles
Goodwin was knighted in 2004 for his services to the banking industry. However, on 1 February 2012, Goodwin's knighthood was "cancelled and annulled" by the Queen on the advice of her government and the Honours Forfeiture Committee. A Cabinet Office spokesman said:
| “ | The scale and severity of the impact of his actions as CEO of RBS made this an exceptional case. Both the Financial Services Authority and the Treasury Select Committee have investigated the reasons for this failure and its consequences. They are clear that the failure of RBS played an important role in the financial crisis of 2008/9 which, together with other macroeconomic factors, triggered the worst recession in the UK since the Second World War and imposed significant direct costs on British taxpayers and businesses. Fred Goodwin was the dominant decision-maker at RBS at the time. In reaching this decision, it was recognised that widespread concern about Fred Goodwin's decisions meant that the retention of a knighthood for 'services to banking' could not be sustained. | ” |
The annulment proved controversial amongst political and business figures, who pointed out the three-and-a-half year gap since the near-collapse of RBS, and the coincidence of the referral taking place during a political argument over bonus payments to the current head of the bank. Alistair Darling described the annulment as having appeared to have been taken "on a whim", whilst the Institute of Directors warned against creating "anti-business hysteria".
Other awards received by Goodwin include:
- December 2002 – Forbes (global edition) "Businessman of the Year", which described him as an original thinker with a fast-forward frame of mind who had transformed RBS from a nonentity into a global name
- 2003 – 2006 – No.1 in Scotland on Sunday's Power 100
- December 2003 – "European Banker of the Year" in 2003
- June 2004 – awarded an honorary doctor of Laws by the University of St Andrews
- July 2008 – awarded an honorary fellowship by the London Business School
Read more about this topic: Fred Goodwin
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