RBS to cut 3,500 jobs; Hoare Govett up for sale

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) today announced its plan to cut 3,500 jobs as part of a reorganisation of its investment bank, which will see the sale or closure of the equities and corporate broking divisions.

The bank, which is 83% owned by the taxpayer, will split job cuts between its UK and international offices. The move follows 2,000 job losses which were announced earlier. As many as 10,000 job cuts had been forecast in total. In a statement released this morning, RBS said it is considering selling or closing unprofitable parts of the business including cash equities, corporate broking (Hoare Govett), equity capital markets, and mergers and acquisitions. Discussions with a number of potential buyers have been ongoing but no firm offers made. The statement said: "We took this decisi...