RBS set to axe 2,000 investment bank jobs

Royal Bank of Scotland is planning to axe 2,000 investment bankers' jobs over the next eighteen months, as it completes the integration of ABN Amro.

The news comes just a day before the group is set to announce its interim results. John Hourican, head of RBS's global banking and markets division, told the Financial Times the group are planning the downsize to deliver more stable profits. "The thing about the ABN Amro deal was it was a massive, bold undertaking at exactly the wrong moment," said Hourican. "You could not have chosen the more perfect ill-timing for any transaction." The bank's decision to purchase ABN Amro in 2007 almost pushed the bank to the brink of collapse during the credit crisis, with the taxpayer forced...