Royal Bank of Scotland is investigating allegations of cronyism after a whistleblower claimed the lender appointed a man to a top role on the basis that he is the friend of a senior staff member.
A source within the bank told the Press Association that RBS is looking into complaints that a man appointed team leader on the troubled Amethyst project does not have the requisite qualifications or experience for the role, and was given the job solely because he was friends with a head honcho.
The move is said to have sparked fury among colleagues, with one telling PA on condition of anonymity: "You would have at least Level 4 Financial Planning Diploma Certificate to be a team leader, if not level 6.
"The fact is he didn't even know what an OEIC (open-ended investment company) was when he started the project.
"You could not expect to be a team leader without having this knowledge. There were times when his team wanted to challenge decisions but he had no knowledge and couldn't."
It is also alleged that the man was paid nearly double what those with qualifications were earning and, damningly, that more experienced and qualified staff were kicked off the project while he maintained his position.
RBS chief executive Ross McEwan was made aware of the situation in July, but the whistleblower is understood to have raised concerns that the investigation is not being taken seriously and has been delayed.
The bank said in a statement: "RBS takes whistleblowing very seriously. The bank was made aware of a series of allegations in July and is investigating them thoroughly.
"No conclusions have been reached at this stage but the appropriate action will be taken in the event that any of the allegations are substantiated."
The Amethyst project was set up to carry out complex investment reviews of ISAs, funds, bonds, pensions and tax planning products.
The Financial Conduct Authority has rules in place that aim to stamp out nepotism and cronyism in the Square Mile, but it is unclear whether the City watchdog has been made aware of the situation.
The RBS source added: "It was another yes man put in place for the project overall. With no experience of investments, he wouldn't even be offered one of the admin roles for the project in normal course of events."
The damning revelations come just weeks after PA revealed that RBS was paying contractors £400 a day to stuff envelopes, typically a minimum wage role.
Under Mr McEwan, the lender, still 62% owned by the Government, has pledged to cut costs and stamp out scandals.
Since the financial crisis, RBS has been dogged by furore surrounding the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI), mortgage-backed securities and the mistreatment of small businesses.
In addition, Mr McEwan has taken an axe to the RBS branch network as part of cost-cutting measures, resulting in hundreds of job losses.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here