UK chancellor rules out cutting stake in RBS after £3.1bn US hit
by Jill Treanor and Larry Elliott from on (#2ABVA)
Justice department charge for mis-selling scandal in US puts bailed-out bank on course for ninth consecutive annual loss
The chancellor has ruled out reducing the government's stake in Royal Bank of Scotland after it took a 3.1bn hit towards the cost of a bond mis-selling scandal in the US.
The charge for the latest regulatory failure will push RBS to its ninth consecutive annual loss and was blamed by Ross McEwan, the bank's chief executive, on the bank having "lost its way" into the run-up to the 2008 crisis. RBS has already incurred 50bn of cumulative annual losses since taxpayers pumped in 45bn to keep it afloat.
Related: RBS investors call for governance changes to improve transparency
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