Rbs struggling to survive another crisis

RBS, which is partially Stateowned, is the UK’s weakest bank and must find £2bn if it is to survive another financial crisis.

That’s according to the Bank of England’s most rigorous stress test yet and will no doubt come as a blow to the government which wants to sell its stake in the bank and shareholders who were hoping it would start paying dividends again. The results came as BoE governor Mark Carney warned Brexit, Donald Trump’s victory and China’s rising debt have reinforced risks to the UK’s financial system.

Shares in RBS – which was bailed out with £45bn from the taxpayer in 2008 and is 73% state-owned – fell by 1.2% in a rising market following the news, while the banks’ revised capital plan, which includes cutting assets, was accepted by the BoE last week.

Barclays and Standard Chartered also performed badly but both are said to be doing enough to address their shortfalls.

Lloyds Banking Group and HSBC both comfortably passed the test.