Investors are demanding that Sir Fred Goodwin, chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, should step down within a year, after the bank’s announcement on Tuesday that it will launch a £12 billion (about $24 billion) rights issue to replenish its capital reserves. Several of the bank’s largest shareholders said they would push for a clear succession plan for Sir Fred, the architect of the bank’s acquisitive strategy including its role in the €71 billion break-up bid for ABN Amro, the Dutch bank, the Financial Times reported. “We want a clear indication from the company about when Sir Fred will leave,” one top 10 investor was quoted by the FT as saying. Meanwhile, Jan Luthman, a fund manager at Walker Cripps, was quoted by Citywire as saying that he believes RBS have let down their investors by offering poor guidance on the potential rights issue and further write-downs. "The disappointment in the market is that RBS went to some length to deny they would have to stage a rights issue and also denied they had a big exposure to sub-prime. Both have turned out to be false guidance," he was quoted as saying. "Analysts and fund managers depend on the directors they appoint to give a fair account of their business and it would appear that the RBS guidance was somewhat economical with the truth," he said. RBS said in its statement on the rights issue that it was considering disposing some of its assets. However, it made no mention of Coutts, its UK private bank. The calls from shareholders, who declined to be identified, came as RBS confirmed plans for its rights issue, Europe’s largest. The bank will also raise a further £5 billion by selling all, or part of, its insurance division in an effort to raise its core Tier 1 capital ratio, a key measure of reserves, to more than 6 per cent. Investors said they were prepared to give RBS some time to complete the rights issue but said they expected the bank to outline a timetable for Sir Fred’s departure afterwards. Another big investor said: “Neither chief executive nor chairman are likely to be around much longer. The rights issue will see RBS issue 11 new shares priced at 200 pence for every 18 existing shares. A number of investment banks have made rights issues in recent months, including UBS, the Swiss bank that has been hit by heavy write-downs linked to the credit crunch.