RBS and Nordea dropped from the list of the world’s most important banks

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Nordic bank Nordea have been removed from a list of the world's most important banks by the Financial Stability Board (FSB).

The FSB's list is a compilation of all banks required to hold extra capital equivalent to at least one per cent of its risk-weight assets, due to their size and impact on the global financial system.

French bank BPCE, meanwhile, was added to the list this year.

The list began in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, in order to gain the help of large banks in shielding taxpayers from any future crashes.

RBS was at one point the world's largest bank, before needing a bailout by the UK government in the wake of the crash. 

The bank is now majority-owned by the government, meaning that the released capital previously reserved for the list could now be returned back to UK taxpayers.

The news comes in the wake of more than £6bn being wiped off the collective value of RBS, Lloyds and Barclays in a single day yesterday, as turmoil over Theresa May's Brexit deal hit the banking sector.

RBS led the drop, falling more than nine per cent and losing £2.76bn off its value. Today, its share price slid a as much as another 4.8 per cent.

An RBS spokesperson said this afternoon: "We note this decision by the FSB which reflects our progress in building a much simpler, safer UK-focused bank."