The Royal Bank of Scotland and Its Reputational Decline: A Case Study

Abstract

After decades of success in the global banking industry, the Royal Bank of Scotland fell to the brink of its collapse in 2008 owing to the recent global financial crisis that entirely shook the financial sector of the United Kingdom. The man whose leadership was once acknowledged for the remarkable success of the bank, former CEO Sir Fred Goodwin, was held entirely responsible for the collapse owing to his decisions of hostile acquisition of the ABN-Amro bank and pushing the banking industry into ‘filthy’ executive pay and bonus culture. The case study will review the evidence from 2000-2009 to discuss the rise and fall of the royal bank in the light of the corporate governance failures during the difficult times of global recession.