RBS shares soar on Abu Dhabi stake-buying

Shares in Royal Bank of Scotland topped the FTSE 100 this afternoon following reports Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund is considering buying a 'significant stake' in the bank.

Shares in RBS climbed 5.9% or 1.64p initially, to 29.39p, after the BBC claimed the government had been negotiating with sovereign wealth funds for months. It is understood the government - which owns 82% of RBS - could sell up to a third of its stake to Abu Dhabi, one of the seven states of the United Arab Emirates. Any sale will likely be loss-making given the significant fall in the share price of RBS since the government acquired its stake. The government was forced to inject £45.5bn of taxpayers' cash into the troubled bank between 2008-2009 to prevent its collapse following ...