LONDON AFP — The Royal Bank of Scotland will this week unveil the biggest loss in the history of British banking due to a multi-billion-pound hit from the global credit crunch, The Sunday Times reported. RBS, which announces interim earnings on Friday, was predicted to reveal a pre-tax loss...
Merrill Lynch's decision to sell mortgage derivatives with a face value of $30bn for less than $7bn has raised fears of more writedowns to come across the troubled banking sector. And as investors debated whether the fire sale marks the bottom of the credit crisis, there was evidence...
Allstate, the American financial giant, has appointed Lehman Brothers to mastermind its purchase of the 6bn insurance arm of Royal Bank of Scotland RBSi. Allstate, the largest home and car insurer in the US, is one of four bidders left in the frame to buy RBSi, along with...
LONDON AFP — European equities fell Wednesday after sharp overnight US losses as sentiment was also hit by a report that a Royal Bank of Scotland analyst had warned of a global market crash. In late morning trading, London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares slid 1.53 percent to...
Leading investors in Royal Bank of Scotland RBS have told Merrill Lynch, the group's adviser, that chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin has one year to save his job. However, rumours in Edinburgh suggest Sir Fred is fed up of recent criticisms and could leave within three months. Merrill...
LONDON AFP — Royal Bank of Scotland said on Friday that it had agreed to sell Angel Trains Group, the largest rolling stock leasing company in Britain, to a consortium of investment funds for 3.6 billion pounds (4.5 billion euros, 7.0 billion dollars). "The Royal Bank of Scotland Group...
NOTHING travels faster than bad news. Last week a report from the international Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development OECD ripped into the British economy, branding it the equivalent of a basket case. It criticised the way the UK has been run for the past decade, saying the options left...
OUTLOOK If there is indeed a battle raging between the Bank of England and the Treasury over who should replace Rachel Lomax as deputy governor, it is a pointless one which powerfully supports the contention that the Government has lost the plot over the management of the economy....
Barclays has raided ABN Amro for a team of investment bankers to break into merger and acquisition advice just six months after losing out to Royal Bank of Scotland in a bitter battle to buy the Dutch bank. Barclays Capital yesterday announced it had hired five senior bankers...
LONDON AFP — Shareholders at Britain's Royal Bank of Scotland voted Wednesday in favour of a record-breaking rights issue totalling 12 billion pounds (15 billion euros, 24 billion dollars), the bank said. RBS had unveiled the country's biggest-ever issuing of new shares last month in order to shore up...
LONDON AFP — Britain's Royal Bank of Scotland said Monday that there will be job losses over the next two years following the recent blockbuster takeover of Dutch lender ABN Amro. Britain's second biggest bank made the announcement after the Financial Times reported that RBS could axe around 7,000...
COMPANY AGMs are a poor form of theatre but there were parts of the show staged by RBS last week that would have brought a tear to a glass eye. Chairman Sir Tom McKillop, as one would expect from such a tough old pro, rose to the occasion....
Royal Bank of Scotland has been forced to apologise to shareholders for its record 12bn rights issue, but the bank presented a united front in defence of Sir Fred Goodwin, its chief executive. Britain's second-biggest bank said it had decided to ask shareholders to help shore up its...
EDINBURGH AFP — Bosses at Britain's second biggest bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland, on Wednesday defended their decision to launch the country's biggest cash call as they met shareholders to explain themselves. RBS chairman Tom McKillop told the group's annual general meeting here that banks as a whole...
OUTLOOK It may look like a bail-out, and to all intents and purposes actually be a bail-out, but please don't call it one. Rather, yesterday's "special liquidity scheme" is depicted by Bank of England and Treasury spiel as a temporary piece of support for the distressed banking system...
LONDON AFP — Britain's Royal Bank of Scotland announced on Tuesday a record share issue of almost 24 billion dollars to shore up its finances after huge subprime-related writedowns and its ABN Amro takeover. "The proposed rights issue will raise proceeds of 12 billion pounds (15 billion euros), net...
LONDON AFP — The Royal Bank of Scotland announced on Tuesday a record share issue of almost 24 billion dollars to shore up its finances after huge subprime-related writedowns and the blockbuster takeover of Dutch giant ABN Amro. "The proposed rights issue will raise proceeds of 12.0 billion pounds...
LONDON AFP — The Royal Bank of Scotland said Tuesday it would raise fresh funds of almost 24 billion dollars to shore up its finances after huge subprime-related writedowns and the blockbuster takeover of Dutch giant ABN Amro. "The proposed rights issue will raise proceeds of 12.0 billion pounds...
LONDON AFP — The Royal Bank of Scotland said Monday it would ask shareholders for a cash boost, following reports that it was to announce fresh losses linked to the credit crunch and its ABN Amro takeover. "The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc confirms that it is considering...
The Bank of England will today reveal an initial 50bn liquidity injection into the financial system to stop the financial crisis wrecking the wider economy. The measures will involve the most radical overhaul of the Government's finances in response to a banking crisis for generations. No maximum figure...
