Fitch Ratings: Breakup of RBS unlikely

Fitch Ratings has said any potential break-up of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is 'unlikely' as the costs and risks would outweigh the benefits.

The ratings agency said it expects the state-backed lender to remain in its current form under the leadership of the new CEO. “A bad bank split is unlikely as we believe the costs, obstacles and uncertainties involved in transferring some assets to a state-run bad bank would exceed the benefits, in particular to the UK government as majority shareholder in the bank and potential acquirer of assets.” Fitch added any move to break up RBS into a ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bank could be problematic for bondholders. “It is difficult to imagine a restructuring being sanctioned that would increas...