From 2000 to 2008, he presided over RBS's rapid rise to global prominence as the world's largest company by assets (£1.9 trillion),[4] and fifth-largest bank by stock market value[5] and its even more rapid fall as RBS was forced into effective nationalisation in 2008. On 11 October 2008, Goodwin officially announced his resignation as chief executive and an early retirement, effective from 31 January 2009 – a month before RBS announced that its 2008 loss totalled £24.1 billion, the largest annual loss in UK corporate history.[6]
From January 2010, he was employed as a senior adviser to RMJM, an international architecture firm. He left the position after less than a year.[7][8]