LONDON - ROYAL Bank of Scotland , the partly nationalised lender, will unveil a pay package for CEO Stephen Hester worth up to 9.6 million pounds (S$23 million) after securing backing from investors, the Financial Times said on Monday.

The paper said Mr Hester would receive a 1.2 million pound salary, a projected 2 million pounds in annual non-cash bonus payments, and nearly 6.4 million pounds in long-term share and stock options.

The deal was backed by UK Financial Investments which manages Britain's 70 per cent stake in the bank and the other 20 major shareholders, and would bring Mr Hester's package into line with other British banking chiefs, the FT said.

Mr Hester's package was dependent on targets including total shareholder return and absolute share price performance, the paper said citing unnamed people briefed on the arrangement.

The maximum share grant would only be awarded if the share price passed 70 pence. RBS shares closed on Friday at 37.2 pence.

Mr Hester was appointed last year to restructure RBS after heavy exposure to risky credit-backed assets built up during the tenure of his predecessor, Fred Goodwin, forced the bank to accept 20 billion pounds of government assistance.

RBS has been at the centre of investor and public anger over excessive pay in the banking sector, stoked by the taxpayer-funded bailout of lenders across the US and Europe.

In April, shareholders rejected RBS' directors' remuneration report by a majority of over 90 per cent, in a move seen as a protest against a 703,000-pound-a-year pension awarded to Mr Goodwin .

Last week the bank said Mr Goodwin had agreed to reduce his annual pension income to 342,500 pounds. -- REUTERS