Young, high-flying bankers at Royal Bank of Scotland are set to be the worst-hit by proposed cutbacks to the UK group's generous retirement scheme, which will weaken the link between wage increases and higher pensions.

Like most final-salary schemes, RBS had in the past promised a pension that is based upon workers' pay at retirement. But yesterday, the bank proposed that in future, members' pension pots will only increase at the rate of 2% a year, or the rate of inflation, whichever is lowest, even if their pay goes up by more.