RBS axes 3,500 at investment arm

UK taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland today announced around 3,500 job losses over the next three years in a bid to downsize its investment banking arm.

The move at Global Banking and Markets (GBM), which has employees in Stoke, Manchester, Edinburgh and London, follows British government pressure for the 83% state-owned bank to pull back from its ambitions to be a global investment player.