The Royal Bank of Scotland has announced a year’s loss of £2bn leading to further anguish over bankers pay and bonuses. The bank which is 82% owned by the state has posted a pre-tax loss of £766 for the previous year and a total loss of almost £2bn which includes various accounting tax charges, including a near £1bn hit for mis sold PPI compensation.
The bank is due to pay out £785m in bonuses to staff, with £390m going to RBS's 17,000 investment bankers. The average pay out to investment bankers is £23,000 however some will get nothing and many of the awards will be much higher.
Despite the 40% rise in the share price in recent weeks, RBS are desperate for shares which are currently trading on average at 28p, to rise to 50p before the taxpayer can break even.
In addition, Lloyds Banking Group made a loss of £3.5bn for the year to 31 December after setting aside £3.2bn to cover payment protection insurance claims.
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