On the morning of October 7 last year, Sir Fred Goodwin stood in front of a roomful of investors at the Landmark Hotel near London's Marylebone station. It was three weeks since the collapse of Lehman Brothers had sent the world's financial markets into a tailspin and Royal Bank of Scotland's chief executive was doing his best to re- assure the audience.

In a 30-minute presentation, he emphasised the bank's broad spread of businesses, strong balance sheet and opportunities for growth in Asia. But as he talked, word reached the hotel's opulent ballroom that the market had taken another downward lurch. After Sir Fred had finished, one fund manager put up his hand. “In the time that you have been speaking your share price has fallen 35 per cent. What is going on?” he asked.

According to people in the room, Sir Fred – normally an assured performer even when under pressure – went pale and fumbled an answer. He then cancelled his remaining meetings and rushed back to RBS's offices. A few days later, the bank was forced to accept ￡20bn ($29bn, €23bn) in capital from the British government, leading to its effective nationalisation and to Sir Fred's departure. His decade at RBS, during which he turned a provincial Scottish lender into one of the world's largest financial institutions, was over.