By David Cutler
Feb 6 (Reuters) - Britain's Royal Bank of Scotland will pay U.S. and British authorities $615 million and plead guilty to
wire fraud in Japan to settle allegations it manipulated global
benchmark interest rates.
RBS grew from a Scottish bank to become one of the world's
largest after a series of takeovers, including the purchase of
NatWest in 2000, but it was subsequently hit by a series of
problems. Here is a look at its troubles since 2007:
April 3, 2007 - RBS leads a consortium along with Fortis and
Spain's Santander bidding for Dutch bank ABN AMRO. In October,
the consortium wins a bidding war against Barclays for ABN AMRO
with a 70-billion-euro offer, making it the biggest banking
takeover in history. The takeover comes just before markets
slump as the subprime credit crisis takes hold.
April 2008 - RBS announces a record 12-billion-pound rights
issue to cover a potential 5.9-billion-pound writedown on the
value of its toxic assets.
October/November 2008 - Britain is forced to pump 20 billion
pounds into the lender to shore up its capital position. Stephen
Hester is named to replace Fred Goodwin as CEO. The government
injects a further 25 billion pounds in January 2009, leaving it
with an approximate 82 percent stake.
February 2009 - RBS reports a loss of 24.1 billion pounds
for 2008, the biggest in British corporate history.
December 2010 - Goodwin and other RBS executives during the
financial crisis escape punishment by the Financial Services
Authority despite what the regulator describes as a "series of
bad decisions" in 2007 and 2008.
December 2011 - The FSA publishes its report, begun in 2009,
into RBS's near failure. The report blames RBS's "poor
management decisions" and flaws within the FSA itself. It also
recommends tougher rules to ensure that in future banking
executives can face "personal consequences" if a bank fails.
August 2012 - A joint New York-Connecticut investigation of
the Libor benchmark interest rate sends subpoenas to RBS and
several other banks. The subpoenas seek communication between
executives related to possible collusion that may have played a
role in alleged manipulation of the Libor rate.
September 2012 - RBS increases its target for job cuts at
its investment banking business to 3,800 by the end of 2013.
Hester has already axed 34,000 jobs since arriving at RBS.
February 2013 - RBS is fined $615 million for its role in
the manipulation of the London interbank offered rate (Libor)
and other global benchmark rates. The rigging continued even
after traders learned that Libor submissions were being probed.
It is the third bank to be fined for Libor rigging, after
Barclays and UBS.
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