Bank of England: action needed over RBS losses
by , 2013-03-06 09:51:45
LONDON -The Bank of England's governor says the U.K. treasury chief must take decisive action over losses at the Royal Bank of Scotland and hasten plans to return it to the private sector.
Mervyn King told lawmakers on the parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards Wednesday that Britain's government needed to finish a radical restructure of the bank within a year.
He says RBS is holding the economy back and that it is "not beyond the wit of man" to split RBS into `good' and `bad' banks to support lending.
King says history has shown "that we should face up to it."
The bank was bailed out by the government during the economic crisis and is more than 80 percent owned by the British taxpayer.
Mervyn King told lawmakers on the parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards Wednesday that Britain's government needed to finish a radical restructure of the bank within a year.
He says RBS is holding the economy back and that it is "not beyond the wit of man" to split RBS into `good' and `bad' banks to support lending.
King says history has shown "that we should face up to it."
The bank was bailed out by the government during the economic crisis and is more than 80 percent owned by the British taxpayer.