The Financial Times (FT) is reporting the state owned Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) could be on the verge of slashing 10,000 jobs from its investment banking division.
The suggestion comes following government pressure for the bank, which had to be rescued with £45bn of tax payers' money, to reduce its riskier activities.
The sense is that RBS has failed to become a major player in key investment banking activities with the FT highlighting its weakness in equities. RBS's Chief Executive, Stephen Hester, is said to be pondering closing the under-performing parts of the business. This option would see the most jobs cuts.
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A second possibility is a sale to another bank, although exactly who would be interested in a transaction is unclear.
RBS shares were down 1.5% in morning trading. Over the last year the stock has fallen nearly 50%. Since the beginning of 2007 RBS has fallen by 96%.
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