Join our community of smart investors

More punishment for RBS's past mistakes

The banking group has taken further provisions against past misconduct, and now trades at a big discount to its net tangible assets
January 27, 2016

After an early spring clean that must have felt more like Hercules' cleaning of the Augean stables, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is catching its breath.

IC TIP: Buy at 253p

Changes to its pension scheme contributions have wiped around 16p off its net tangible assets, or about 1 percentage point off its tier one ratio of capital to risk-weighted assets. It has also had to set aside £1.5bn in further provisions for litigation over US mortgage-backed securities and another £500m for payment protection insurance. To top it off, the banking group also swallowed a £498m goodwill impairment for its private bank.