London - Fred Goodwin, the British banker whose massive pension entitlement made him the "ugly face" of the banking crisis, has agreed to cut his annual pension payments by 200,000 pounds (324,000 dollars), the BBC reported Thursday.

Goodwin, 50, the former head of the Royal Bank of Scotland, will still be able to draw on 350,000 pounds a year from his pension.

His offer to cut his pension claim came under a threat of legal action from RBS, said the report.

Goodwin resigned at the height the banking crisis last October after RBS was rescued under a government's bail-out scheme which made it 72-per cent state-owned. (dpa)