"We have come top of the table because of the internationalspread of our business and multi-brand business model and not because of any tax initiative, " he added.
But he would point out - and his fellow directors would agree - that he is already in the bottom quartile, and probably in the bottom decile, in respect of the pay, bonuses and other longer-term incentives he receives for managing a bank of RBS's size, internationalspread and complexity.