RBS Under Pressure to Sell Assets, Prepare for Sale

Royal Bank of Scotland CEO Stephen Hester is being pressed by the U.K. government to sell more assets and bolster capital as the Treasury tries to recoup some of its $68.9bn investment in the bailed-out lender.

Bloomberg reports that RBS will this week announce plans to sell a stake in Citizens Financial Group and shrink assets at its investment-bank by as much as $45.6bn, said a person with knowledge of the plans, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private.

As recently as August, Hester said he didn’t intend to sell the U.S. consumer and commercial lender it acquired in 1988.

'RBS is clearly under pressure from the government to shrink and make the bank much simpler', said Ian Gordon, an analyst at Investec Plc (INVP) in London, who values Citizens at about $12.1bn and has a sell rating on the stock. 'Regulators seem to be saying that RBS needs to raise capital'.

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RBS Under Pressure to Sell Assets, Prepare for Sale

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