Why HBoS should jump at the chance to raise cash

Following Royal Bank of Scotland's record £12bn rights issue, the next in line seems to be HBoS. And the biggest weakness for HBoS is the falling UK housing market, writes John Stepek.

Last week, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) announced its record £12bn rights issue.

That's a huge amount of money. It's so large that it's tough to get a handle on just how much money it is. Let's just say that if a company with a market capitalization of £12bn was added to the FTSE 100 this morning, it'd slot in somewhere around the top 30, near Cadbury Schweppes and Scottish & Southern Water.

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