Relieved RBS bosses should spare a thought for the claimaints

Royal Bank of Scotland's abrasive tone, and its seemingly freewheeling approach to racking up legal fees, have felt wrong

Now we know: Royal Bank of Scotland's rights issue in 2008 wasn't a 12bn cash call, it was a 13bn affair. The extra 1bn is how much Fred Goodwin's successors have spent settling and fighting claims from irate retail investors who thought the rights issue document was misleading.

The latest settlement with RBS Action Group, worth about 200m, will probably bring an end to the process. One can't yet say so definitively, because some claimants outside the group haven't formally accepted, so the judge left the door ajar for a trial. But the diehards have only limited time in which to demonstrate they have the funds to continue, so a revival of proceedings is a long shot. Goodwin and three other former RBS directors can breathe more easily. They probably aren't going to be called as witnesses.

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