Fresh bailout fears for RBS if Europe recapitalises banks

The UK government is concerned Royal Bank of Scotland will need a further injection of taxpayers' cash in the event of a broad recapitalisation of Europe's banking sector, the FT reports.

A government official told the paper that RBS' sovereign debt exposure is not fundamentally worrying, but if the banking sector as a whole has to be supported, "it is conceivable it may need more government money." RBS' original bailout was one of the largest of the 2008 crisis, costing the taxpayer £45bn and leaving the bank 83% owned by the state. Now it is one of the five blue-chip banks whose core tier one capital ratio is at risk of falling short of regulatory requirements after a writedown of the banks' exposure to the troubled eurozone periphery, the FT reports. The Europea...