Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is cutting nearly 500 jobs in its investment banking business
Royal Bank of Scotland is getting rid of nearly 450 jobs in its investment banking business as part of a radical restructuring plan intended to cut costs and streamline the state-backed bank.
RBS informed staff today that it is slashing 448 office and middle-office positions from its corporate and institutional bank in an effort to shrink the business.
But the bank is outsourcing 300 similar roles to India in a bid to reduce costs.
An RBS spokesperson said today:
"As part of RBS’s drive to be a stronger, simpler and fairer bank, we have been restructuring our corporate & institutional bank, as well as reducing its size, to focus on our core customers and products. As this process continues our frontline staff need a simpler, clearer, more efficient relationship with our middle and back office functions to better serve customers, so we’re reshaping our services business accordingly.
"Unfortunately the changes will result in some job losses. We realise how difficult this news is for our staff and we are working to support those affected. We will redeploy staff into new roles wherever possible."
Earlier this week, RBS revealed it was axing 550 jobs and replacing them with so-called robo-advisers. That axe is expected to fall on RBS's investment advice division, as well as its protection advice team, with the bank blaming falling demand for face-to-face services for the job losses.
The Treasury retains a 73 per cent shareholding in RBS, valued at more than £20bn.
Chancellor George Osborne has said he wants to sell £25bn of RBS shares alone by the end of the decade, although the bank's share price will need to rise sharply between now and 2020 if the Treasury is to meet its target.
RBS reported disappointing results for 2015 last month – the bank's eighth consecutive year of losses. The bank does not expect to pay a dividend this year.