The civil lawsuit has been brought by thousands of investors who bought shares in a 2008 cash call and lost most of their money when the bank collapsed a few months later, resulting in a 45.5 billion pound ($56.77 billion) government bailout.

The case is due to start in May, with Goodwin scheduled to appear in court on June 8 and 9 -- a rare public appearance for the disgraced executive who has shouldered the blame for the bank's rapid collapse and subsequent state rescue.

The investors are suing for compensation, alleging that RBS did not give a proper picture of its finances at the time of the cash call. RBS denies the allegations.

Former RBS chairman Tom McKillop is scheduled to appear on June 7 and the former boss of the boss of the lender's investment banking arm, Johnny Cameron, will appear on June 12, the timetable shows.

Shareholders lost about 80 percent of their investments when RBS collapsed just months after the 2008 cash call.

Former RBS chief executive Goodwin was stripped of his knighthood but kept an annual pension of 342,500 pounds.

($1 = 0.8014 pounds)

(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; Editing by David Goodman)