RBS mulls writedown as high as $14 billion

[ben_meyers]

Source: Yahoo Business

LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland's board is due to meet this weekend to discuss writedowns as high as 7 billion pounds ($14 billion) and a rights issue of as much as 12 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Saturday.

The rights issue, which could be Europe's largest, comes as pressure grows on global banking giants to shore up battered balance sheets, but it would mark a radical u-turn for Britain's second-largest bank and the first major fundraising for a UK lender since the start of the credit crunch.

Analysts have said a capital increase for RBS, which has one of the lowest capital ratios in Europe, would likely be accompanied by higher writedowns as it sweeps its books clean.

RBS has so far suffered a relatively modest hit from toxic assets, unlike most of its U.S. and some European peers, but it has not been immune to continued market turmoil and its balance sheet has been left stretched by its leading role in the ambitious takeover of Dutch rival ABN AMRO last year.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080419/bs_nm/rbs_dc_10;_ylt=Al7RYPUW_egFhSXUs3G4yOwE1vAI

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Just swell, this is one of the old conservative British banks that I was advised to put some money into a few years back. Another article in the Times is saying that the BOE may need to inject 200 billion into their banking system. WTF is going on?

[soothsayer]

1. Ask our global banking overlords. And go watch Money As Debt.

and get all freaked out about how we're slowly and methodically being bankrupted and enslaved by the powers that be. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9050474362583451279

[tomreedtoon]

2. They went broke sponsoring a stupid GOLF series.

The only time I ever heard of these people was in their sponsorship of a series telling the history of Arnold Palmer. With such a stupid media buy, it's no surprise they're losing money. They would have done better with a half-hour show watching a cut apple turning brown.

[harmonicon]

3. damn....

They own the bank where I have an account. An they are a shitty bank. This makes me want to switch banks even more.

[whistle]

4. These financial derivatives I learned recently were valued using

....quasi-Monte Carlo computer software toolbox routines from the military space warfare and nuclear programs developed under Ronnie Reagan's Star Wars Initiative. The software packages that have been used most are:

- GAUSS
- MATLAB
- GAMS
- Mathematica
- Maple

It seems only logical now that the U.S. and the rest of the world's economy is being forced into collapse followed by near mass extintsion of the human race leaving perhaps 20% of the population to move into a new dark age of fascist rule and limited production/consumption for a ruling elite. Snort and Smirk people, the worst is yet to come

[formercia]

5. Would You Like To Play Global Thermonuclear War?

says Joshua.

[formercia]

6. The story isn't over yet

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080422/britain_rbs.html

AP
RBS exposure: another $11.7B in losses tied to mortgages
Tuesday April 22, 6:20 am ET
By Robert Barr, Associated Press Writer
RBS reveals $11.7B in losses; raised $23.9B in new capital and is seeking more

LONDON (AP) -- Royal Bank of Scotland said Tuesday it had suffered $11.7 billion in additional losses and was forced to raise $23.9 billion in new capital to cover exposure to toxic U.S. loans.

The bank said it would raise even more capital by asking shareholders to approve a rights issue that will offer them 11 new shares for every 18 existing shares at 200 pence ($3.98) each.