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NatWest Group

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The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc
Company typePublic (LSE: RBS, Template:OTCBB)
IndustryFinance and Insurance
Founded1727
HeadquartersEdinburgh, Scotland, UK
Key people
Sir Tom McKillop, Chairman
Sir Fred A. Goodwin, CEO
ProductsFinancial Services
RevenueIncrease £28,002 million (2006)
Increase £9,186 million (2006)
Increase £6,497 million (2006)
Number of employees
135,000
Websitewww.rbs.com

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (LSE: RBS, Template:OTCBB) is a banking and insurance holding company in the United Kingdom based in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.[1] It includes The Royal Bank of Scotland plc [2]) founded in 1727 by a Royal Charter of King George I.[3]

The RBS Group is the largest banking group in Scotland, the second largest in the UK and Europe, and the fifth largest in the world by market capitalisation. It is the 14th largest company in the world according to Forbes Global 2000 rankings. Its shares have a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange. The registered head office of the group and the clearing bank is located at St Andrew Square. In 2005, Queen Elizabeth II opened the bank's new head office building in Gogarburn, Edinburgh.

The RBS Group operates a wide variety of banking brands offering personal and business banking, private banking, insurance and corporate finance throughout its operations located in Europe, North America and Asia. In the UK and Ireland the main subsidiary companies are: the Royal Bank of Scotland plc; National Westminster Bank; Ulster Bank; and Coutts. In the United States it owns Citizens Financial Group, the 8th largest bank in the country. Insurance companies include Churchill Insurance, Direct Line, Privilege, and NIG.

The Royal Bank of Scotland subsidiary continues to issue banknotes in Scotland; and is the only bank in the UK that continues to print a £1 note.

Financial data

Financial data in GBP millions
Year 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Income 16 815 19 229 22 754 25 902 28 002
Profit before tax 6 451 7 151 8 101 9 763 10 864
Net profit 3 207 4 039 4 256 5 551 6 497
Market capitalisation 43 200 48 800 55 600 56 100 62 800

Sources: OpesC[4], RBS Financial Results 2006[5]

History

Foundation

Registered Head Office of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group in St Andrews Square, Edinburgh.

The bank traces its origin to the Equivalent Society which was set up by investors in the failed Company of Scotland to protect the compensation they received as part of the arrangements of the 1707 Acts of Union. The Equivalent Society became the Equivalent Company in 1724, and the new company wished to move into banking. The British government received the request favourably as the "Old Bank", the Bank of Scotland, was suspected of having Jacobite sympathies. Accordingly the "New Bank" was chartered in 1727 as the Royal Bank of Scotland, with Archibald Campbell, Lord Ilay appointed as its first governor.

In 1728, the Royal Bank of Scotland became the first bank in the world to offer an overdraft facility.

Competition with the Bank of Scotland

Competition between the Old and New Banks was fierce, and centred on the issue of banknotes. The policy of the Royal Bank was to either drive the Bank of Scotland out of business or to take it over on favourable terms.

The Royal Bank built up large holdings of the Bank of Scotland's notes, which it acquired in exchange for its own notes, and then suddenly presented them to the Bank of Scotland for payment. To pay for these notes the Bank of Scotland was forced to call in its loans and, in March 1728, to suspend payments. The suspension relieved the immediate pressure on the Bank of Scotland at the cost of substantial damage to its reputation, and gave the Royal Bank a clear space to expand its own business, although the Royal Bank's increased note issue also made it more vulnerable to the same tactics.

Despite talk of a merger with the Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank did not possess the wherewithal to complete the deal. By September 1728 the Bank of Scotland was able to start redeeming its notes again, with interest, and in March 1729 it restarted lending. To prevent similar attacks in the future, the Bank of Scotland put an "option clause" on its notes, giving it the right to make the notes interest-bearing while delaying payment for six months; the Royal Bank followed suit. Both banks eventually decided that the policy they had followed was mutually self-destructive and a truce was arranged, but it still took until 1751 before the two banks agreed to accept each other's notes.

Scottish Expansion

A Royal Bank of Scotland £5 note from 1964

The bank opened its first branch office outside Edinburgh in 1783 when the first Glasgow branch opened. Further branches were opened in Dundee, Rothesay, Dalkeith, Greenock, Port Glasgow and Leith during the early 1800s. In 1821, the bank moved from its original head office in Edinburgh's Old Town to St Andrew Square in the New Town which remains the bank's registered head office to this day.

The rest of the 19th century saw the bank pursue mergers with other Scottish banks, mainly in a response to failing institutions. The assets and liabilities of the Western Bank were acquired following its collapse in 1857 and in 1864 the Dundee Banking Co. was acquired. By 1910, the bank had 158 branches and around 900 staff.

In 1969, the bank merged with the National Commercial Bank of Scotland to become the largest clearing bank in Scotland.

Expansion into England

The expansion of the British Empire in the latter half of the 19th century saw the emergence of London as the world's largest financial centre, attracting the Scottish banks to expand south into England. The first London branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland opened in 1874. However, the English banks moved to prevent further expansion by the Scottish banks in England, and after a government committee was set up to examine the matter, the Scottish banks decided to drop their expansion plans. An agreement was reached whereby English banks would not open branches in Scotland; and Scottish banks would not open branches in England outside of London. This agreement remained in place until the 1960s, although various cross border acquisitions were permitted. [1]

The Royal Bank's English expansion plans were resurrected after World War I, when it acquired various small English banks, including London based Drummonds Bank in 1924; and William Deacon's Bank based in North West England in 1930; and Glyn, Mills and Co in 1939. The latter two were merged in 1970 to form Williams and Glyn's Bank; and later rebranded as the Royal Bank of Scotland in 1985.

Takeover bids

During the late 1970s and early 1980s the Royal Bank was the subject of three separate takeover approaches. In 1979, Lloyds Bank, which had previously built up a 16.4% stake in the Bank, made a takeover approach for the remaining shares it did not own. The offer was rejected by the board of management on the basis it was detrimental to the Bank’s operations. However when the Standard Chartered Bank, proposed a merger with the Bank in 1980, the board of management responded favourably to the offer. Standard Chartered Bank was headquartered in London, although most of its operations were in the Far East, and the Royal Bank saw advantages in creating a truly international banking group. Approval was received from the Bank of England, and the two banks agreed a merger plan that would see the Standard Chartered acquire the Royal Bank and keep the UK operations based in Edinburgh. However the bid was scuppered by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) which tabled a rival offer. The bid by HSBC was not backed by the Bank of England; and was subsequently rejected by the Royal Bank’s board of management. However the British government referred both bids to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission; and both were subsequently rejected as being against the public interest. [2]

The Bank did obtain an international partnership with Banco Santander Central Hispano of Spain, each bank taking a 5% stake in the other. However this arrangement ended in 2005, when Banco Santander Central Hispano acquired UK bank, Abbey National – and both banks sold their respective shareholdings.

International expansion

The first international office of the bank was opened in New York in 1960. Subsequent international banks were opened in Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and Hong Kong. In 1988 the bank acquired Citizens Financial Group, a bank based in Rhode Island, United States. Since then, Citizens has acquired several other American banks, and in 2004 acquired Charter One Bank to become the 8th largest bank in the United States.

Outwith North America, the Royal Bank also opened offices in Europe and now has subsidiaries in: Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Germany, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina In the Asia-Pacific region, the bank has offices in: Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.

National Westminster Bank

The late 1990s saw a new wave of consolidation in the financial services sector. In 1999, the Bank of Scotland launched a hostile takeover bid for English rival, the NatWest. The Bank of Scotland intended to fund the deal by selling off many of the NatWest’s subsidiary companies, including Ulster Bank and Coutts. However, the Royal Bank subsequently tabled a counter-offer, sparking off the largest hostile takeover battle in UK corporate history. A key differentiation from the Bank of Scotland’s bid was the Royal Bank’s plan to retain all of NatWest’s subsidiaries. Although NatWest, one of the "Big 4" English clearing banks, was significantly larger than both Scottish banks, it had a history of poor financial performance, and plans to merge with insurance company Legal & General were not well received, prompting a 26% fall in share price. [3]

On February 11, 2000, the Royal Bank of Scotland was declared the winner in the takeover battle, becoming the second largest banking group in the UK after HSBC Holdings. NatWest and the Royal Bank of Scotland became subsidiaries of the holding company; The Royal Bank of Scotland Group. NatWest as a distinct banking brand was retained, although many back office functions of the bank were merged with the Royal Bank's leading to over 18,000 job losses throughout the UK. [4]

Recent history

In 1967, RBS became the first Scottish bank to install an Automated Teller Machine, and by 1980 the service, known as Cashline had become the busiest ATM network in the world. Today it is now the largest privately owned ATM network in the UK, it is also a member of the LINK ATM network. In 1997, RBS was the first bank in the world to make its ATMs available to all cardholders. The word Cashline, in Scotland at least has become a generic term for an ATM.

In August 2004, the bank expanded into China, acquiring a 10% stake in the Bank of China for £1.7 billion [5].

A new international headquarters was built at Gogarburn on the outskirts of Edinburgh, and was opened by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 2005. The St Andrew Square office still remains the official registered head office.

The bank was the 2005 recipient of the Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award, an award given to enterprises and individuals who use information technology in a society-transforming way.

The Group acquired Dutch Bank ABN AMRO as part of a consortium with Beligan bank Fortis and Spanish bank Banco Santander on 10 October, 2007.

Corporate Structure

The Royal Bank of Scotland's office in Fleet Street, London- also home to Child & Co.

The RBS Group is split into 8 operating areas. Each operating area has several subsidiary businesses.

Retail Banking

This is the group’s main UK business, offering personal and business banking services. Services are operated under both the Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest brand names. Key subsidiaries include:

Wealth Management

This is the group’s private bank division providing services to wealthy individuals:

Retail - Direct Channels

This division is responsible for the group’s credit card businesses in the UK and Europe; including internet and telephone based banking brands; and processing facilities for retailers. Key subsidiaries and brands include:

Corporate Markets

This division consists of UK Corporate Banking which provides financing, leasing services and transaction processing to corporate customers. The Global Banking and Markets division provides debt and risk management to corporate and institutional customers in markets around the world. Key subsidiaries include:


RBS Insurance

RBS Insurance is the second largest general insurance provider in the UK, as well as a growing presence in Spain, Italy, and Germany, Key brands include:

Churchill Insurance also underwrites: Lloyds TSB, Nationwide, Prudential, Pearl, Help the Aged and Alliance & Leicester Car Insurance brands

Direct Line also underwrites : Privilege (Privilege Direct, consumer side of the business)

UK Insurance also underwrities : Tesco, Privilege Fleet, Egg, Mint, Mini, Bmw, Peugeot, Suzuki, Vauxhall, NatWest, RBS Royalities, etc

  • Tracker

Ulster Bank Group

Citizens

This division includes the Bank's businesses in the United States, Citizens Financial Group and Charter One Bank.

Manufacturing

This 'invisible' 8th division provides centralised back-office processing (Cash/Coin Management, Call Centres, etc.) for the more visible banking & insurance brands like Royal Bank, Direct Line and NatWest.

Banknotes

Main article: Royal Bank of Scotland § Banknotes
A £100 Royal Bank of Scotland note.

RBS Group's subsidiary, Royal Bank of Scotland - along with Clydesdale Bank and Bank of Scotland - issues its own banknotes in Scotland.

Controversy

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is one of the world's largest funders of oil and gas extraction, describing itself as "the oil and gas bank" [6]. This level of investment in fossil fuels in the face of strong evidence of climate change [7] is seen by some to be reprehensible [6]. In October 2007, peaceful protests were organised by climate campaigners at RBS branches around the UK [6][8]. Demonstrators claimed that carbon emissions from RBS-supported projects around the world are greater than those for the whole of Scotland[9][6].

References

  1. ^ A Brief History of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group.
  2. ^ The Scottish Gaelic name (Template:Lang-gd) is used by retail banking branches of the Royal Bank of Scotland plc in parts of Scotland, especially as signage and customer stationery.
  3. ^ Scotbanks.org- The Royal Bank of Scotland
  4. ^ http://www.opesc.org/fiche-societe/fiche-societe.php?entreprise=RBS OpesC
  5. ^ http://www.rbs.com/microsites/annual%2Dreview/profile/
  6. ^ a b c d Cabaret act at bank during day of protest
  7. ^ Humans blamed for climate change
  8. ^ St Andrews students protest at 'oil' bank of Scotland
  9. ^ Climate protesters target city

See also

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