The recent LIBOR scandal, which saw Barclays fined £290m by the Financial Services Authority and the US Commodities Futures Trading Association over deliberately fixing its interest rates, led to the sacking of four RBS traders on 1 July.
The fine also prompted an investigation by the FSA into a number of investment banks, including RBS.
“RBS is one of the banks tied up in LIBOR. We will have our day in that particular spotlight as well,” Hester told the Guardian, who confirmed RBS was under investigation by the FSA.
The scandal surrounding Barclays temporarily distracted attention from a computer meltdown at RBS, which stopped 13m customers from accessing their accounts for up to a month.
Hester added the rate-rigging scandal will be detrimental for the entire industry.
“Even though when all the LIBOR [fines] are out most of it is going to be around the wrongdoings of a handful of people at a number of banks,” Hester said.
“Those wrongdoings taint a whole industry beyond the handful of people and that makes it a huge problem.”
Barclays has seen a clear-out of its senior management following the scandal, including chief executive Bob Diamond, chairman Mark Agius and chief operating officer Jerry del Missier.
However, Hester was unsympathetic in his interview with the Guardian.
“Everyone has to live with the prospect of professional mortality,” Hester stated. “Chief executive jobs bring with them job insecurity … I’ve always accepted that part of it is that I will not exit in a way and timing of my choice.”
Hester’s tenure at RBS has been embroiled in difficulties over his renumeration. He waived his bonus for 2012 earlier this year, following a backlash over his 2011 £11m bonus, which resulted in him handing it back.
In his interview with the Guardian, he admitted the computer crisis could have been avoided if more had been spent on upgrading existing systems rather than on developing new ones.
“RBS has seen a big mushrooming in spending on technology. With hindsight maybe a bit more of that increase in spend should have been in the core taken-for-granted systems that work every day. Some of our focus was on the new things people want,” he said.
Hester has 18 months left of his “clean up” operation of the bailed out banks which made £24bn of losses in 2008.
RBS is set to reveal its first-half results on Friday this week, which are expected to show a £1.2bn pre-tax loss, the Telegraph reported. Also, the bank is said to have paid £25m to just one businessman for mis-sold products intended to protect against interest rate rises.
It also emerged today that HSBC, another investment bank facing investigation over mis-selling and money laundering claims, has set aside more than £600m to cover costs involved.
The bank is reported to be setting aside £300m for fines over mis-selling of payment protection insurance, £200m to compensate small business customers mis-sold complex interest rate derivatives and £127m for money laundering fines involving its US business.
