The Royal Bank of Scotland

The Royal Bank of Scotland 

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc .also known as RBS Grou- is a British banking and insurance holding company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The group operates a wide variety of banking brands offering personal and business banking, private banking, insurance and corporate finance through its offices located in Europe, North America and Asia. In the UK and Ireland, its main subsidiary companies are The Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest, Ulster Bank and Coutts. The group issues banknotes in Scotland and Northern Ireland and, as of 2014, The Royal Bank of Scotland is the only bank in the UK to still print £1 notes.

Outside the UK, from 1988 to 2015 it owned Citizens Financial Group, the 13th largest bank in the United States, and from 2004 to 2009 it was the second largest shareholder in the Bank of China, itself the world's fifth largest bank by market capitalisation in February 2008.

Before the 2008 collapse and the general financial crisis, RBS Group was very briefly the largest bank in the world and for a period was the second largest bank in the UK and Europe (fifth in stock market value), and the fifth largest in the world by market capitalisation. Subsequently, with a slumping share price and major loss of confidence, the bank fell sharply in the rankings, although in 2009 it was briefly the world's largest company by both assets -£1.9 trillion- and liabilities -£1.8 trillion). It received significant support from the UK government, which, as of August 2015, holds and manages a 73% stake through UK Financial Investments UKFI

The Group had a market capitalisation of approximately £20.4 billion as of 4 March 2014, making it the 26th largest company on the London Stock Exchange.In addition to its primary share listing on the LSE, the company is also listed on the New York Stock Exchange.



For the history of the Royal Bank of Scotland before the holding company, see The Royal Bank of Scotland.
By 1969, economic conditions were becoming more difficult for the banking sector. In response, the National Commercial Bank of Scotland merged with the Royal Bank of Scotland  The resulting company had 662 branches. The merger resulted in a new holding company, National and Commercial Banking Group Ltd. The English and Welsh branches were reorganised, until 1985, as Williams & Glyn's Bank, while the Scottish branches all transferred to the Royal Bank name. The holding company was renamed The Royal Bank of Scotland Group in 1979.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group footprints
During the late 1970s and early 1980s the Royal Bank was the subject of three separate takeover approaches. In 1979, Lloyds Bank, which had previously built up a 16.4% stake in the Royal Bank, made a takeover approach for the remaining shares it did not own. The offer was rejected by the board of directors on the basis that it was detrimental to the bank's operations. However, when the Standard Chartered Bank proposed a merger with the Royal Bank in 1980, the board responded favourably. Standard Chartered Bank was headquartered in London, although most of its operations were in the Far East, and the Royal Bank saw advantages in creating a truly international banking group. Approval was received from the Bank of England, and the two banks agreed a merger plan that would have seen the Standard Chartered acquire the Royal Bank and keep the UK operations based in Edinburgh. However, the bid was scuppered by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation .HSBC .which tabled a rival offer. The bid by HSBC was not backed by the Bank of England and was subsequently rejected by the Royal Bank's board. However the British government referred both bids to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission; both were subsequently rejected as being against the public interest........