Royal Bank of Scotland has said the timing of potentially lucrative share options for senior executives under a controversial new bonus plan is purely coincidental, after the awards were granted at an apparently low price.

Chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin and senior colleagues could benefit from the recent market slump, it has emerged - but through accident rather than design.

As The Herald reported yesterday, more than 22% of shareholders voted against the 2007 executive share option plan, which has been introduced to replace a scheme approved by shareholders in 1999. The scheme could see executives including Goodwin gain three times their basic salary - which in his case would amount to £3.6m.

Royal Bank announced to the stock market on Monday that it had granted options to 15 senior executives that will vest between 2010 and 2017 at an exercise price of 561p.

This appeared low by recent standards. Royal Bank shares closed up 1.5p at 577p on Monday, but were until recently trading well above 600p.

However, a spokesman for the bank said yesterday that the date on which the awards would be priced was predetermined in July by the remuneration committee - before recent stock market jitters took hold.

The awards would have been granted earlier, she added, but for the fact that the extended offer for ABN Amro had placed the bank effectively in a closed period.