RBS 'in £12bn offer for US bank'

Royal Bank of Scotland was today reported to have made a £12bn (€17.6bn) offer for LaSalle, the US bank at the heart of the ABN Amro takeover saga.

The Edinburgh-based group and its bid partners tabled the conditional move as part of a two-stage process they hope will deliver ABN from the under the nose of Barclays, which has already unveiled a merger with the Dutch bank.