RBS insurance spin off could enter FTSE 100

Royal Bank of Scotland's insurance business has been renamed Direct Line Group ahead of a possible initial public offering (IPO).

The sale was forced on RBS by the European Competition Commission in exchange for allowing the British tax payer to fund the bank's £45bn bailout between 2008 and 2009.

The move gives a sense of the enormous scale of the business that the now disgraced Fred Goodwin built because Direct Line Group could well make it into the FTSE 100 as a stand alone entity.

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As well as the Direct Line brand, the group will include Churchill, Privilege and Green Flag. Direct Line itself is Britain's biggest car insurer while the combined group earned written premiums of £4.4bn in 2010.

The terms of the EU's judgement mean the IPO, or a sale to another insurance firm or private equity business, must leave RBS with a stake below 50% by 2013. By 2014 RBS must have achieved a complete exit.

It's thought the re-branding exercise is an attempt to distance the insurance division from the perceived sins and controversy of RBS.

Shares in RBS had gained 2.9% by 10.35.

BS