First Email to Respondents

Thank you for responding to the advertising campaign I ran before Christmas, as I suspected, there are many Coutts customers who were advised by the bank to place money in AIG Life Premier Bonds, and by working together I hope that we will be more effective in forcing Coutts to take responsibility for their advice.

Obviously running an advertising campaign is both expensive and a rather dramatic step to take, but I really felt that if I just pursued Coutts legally on my own it would be less effective than if a number of customers were able to work together - even if just to share information.

My objective is to obtain from Coutts/RBS a fair solution to the unacceptable position that many of us find ourselves in now. As you are probably aware AIG forced its Premier Bond holders to make a decision in November to choose either the exit route and take an immediate loss of capital in December, or to have their bonds converted into the Protected Recovery Fund. As I'm sure you know, the majority of customers decided to take their chances and leave their money in the Recovery Fund, which effectively locks up our capital until July 2012, with little prospect of earning any additional interest, and no certainty that the capital will be returned (the AIG Life underpin guarantee has to be questioned given the financial predicament of the US parent).

My strategy is to persuade Coutts that it makes better business sense for it to find acceptable solutions for its disaffected customers, rather than to fight a well-organised customer campaign, both through the courts and via the media. As one of the oldest private banks in the country, which has taken over a hundred years to build its reputation, Coutts needs to understand that it will make better business sense to settle with us, than to endure a sustained legal and publicity campaign from some of its best customers.

SHARING INFORMATION

The first step in the process is to assemble as much information as possible from customers whom Coutts advised to buy AIG Life Premier Bonds. The information you provide will be kept confidential and will not be used in any way without your permission. This information will help us formulate our plans and once analysed I will arrange a meeting and/or conference call to share my thoughts on the next steps.

It is already apparent from the correspondence I have received that there are a number of similar complaints, which demonstrate an interesting pattern of behaviour by Coutts.

I have attached a simple questionnaire. I would be grateful if you were to fill it in and either email or post it to me as soon as possible.

OTHER INFORMATION

As a result of the advertising campaign, I have been contacted by a large number of other individuals that have offered to help and some have already provided me with some valuable information. These include: other Coutts customers to whom Coutts suggested AIG bonds but who declined to buy, other Coutts customers who are unhappy about Coutts' advice regarding other financial products, customers of other banks who bought AIG bonds, and IFAs who have been advising their clients not to touch AIG since 2007.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER

As explained above, I believe that it is in the joint interests of disgruntled Coutts customers to share the types of information referred to above (and referred to in my questionnaire). I appreciate however that everyone's circumstances are different and I cannot, and do not seek, to take responsibility for the decisions which any other Coutts customers make regarding their grievances with the bank.