The Royal Bank of Scotland has defended the way its top bosses are awarded after some shareholders criticised the lender for not making deeper cuts to pay.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is preparing to cut more than €1.17bn (£1bn) of annual operating costs by eliminating jobs and closing branches as it seeks to bolster profitability, said a person with knowledge of the plans.

Royal Bank of Scotland, which is the parent company of Ulster Bank, is to separate its retail operations from its higher-risk businesses in a major overhaul to meet new ring-fencing rules in the UK, which also means the RBS brand will only be used in Scotland.

Royal Bank of Scotland is to pay $1.1bn (€979m) to a US regulator to settle two claims over mis-sold mortgage bonds in the run-up to the financial crisis.

Royal Bank of Scotland has reported a £2.04bn (€2.42bn) loss for the first half of the year after taking into account £1.3bn (€1.54bn) worth of PPI and other legal costs.

Banco Santander has made an offer to take over Royal Bank of Scotland’s Williams & Glyn business, according to sources, as part of a long-standing plan to grow its market share in Britain.

The British government’s sale of its stake in Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) has been delayed by at least two years after the UK voted to leave the EU, according to chief executive Ross McEwan.

A technology glitch centred around six branches in Scotland is hampering Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) plan to offload its Williams & Glyn retail banking unit and resume dividend payments to shareholders.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has drawn up plans to axe 200 jobs as it cuts back its branch network.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group and the UK government have agreed to scrap the state’s rights to preferential dividends, paving the way for the bank to return capital to shareholders as early as next year.

RBS is committed to retaining Ulster Bank operations in the Republic, but the round of cost-cutting will continue relentlessly, Ulster Bank has said.

Royal Bank of Scotland — the parent of Ulster Bank — will sound out potential buyers for Williams & Glyn after receiving a number of approaches while continuing preparations for an initial public offering of the consumer bank.

Santander UK is reportedly considering a surprise bid for 300 Royal Bank of Scotland branches in the UK after pulling out of the same deal three years ago.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group CEO Ross McEwan said he wants the UK bank to buy back shares to help reduce the government’s stake.

Royal Bank of Scotland today said it had resolved a glitch which delayed around 600,000 payments for customers.

George Osborne is reportedly expected to set out plans to start selling off the taxpayer stake in Royal Bank of Scotland in his Mansion House speech next week.

AIB faces mounting pay demands from its staff and a headache over shaping long-term incentives for its senior bosses as the Government prepares the bank for sale next year, experts have said.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group is one of many prospective bidders that have shown an interest in buying Granite, a £13bn (€18.3bn) mortgage securitisation vehicle earmarked for sale by the UK government.

Ulster Bank chief executive Jim Brown is to leave the his role at the head of the bank to take up a position in the UK.

Royal Bank of Scotland has transformed the executive wing of its headquarters near Edinburgh, synonymous with the excesses of former CEO Fred Goodwin, into a hub for start-up businesses, as part of the bailed-out bank’s bid to revive its reputation.

Royal Bank of Scotland will hand restructuring chief Rory Cullinan the task of overseeing another major scaling back of its investment bank, sources told Reuters, allowing it to focus on lending to British households and businesses.

RBS in earlier disposal of toxic assets

Royal Bank of Scotland’s Chris Sullivan, the deputy chief executive officer whose evidence to the parliament was criticised by legislators, has left the bank.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group suspended bonuses of 18 traders as part of a review of foreign-exchange business in the wake of a $634m (€521.25m) fine.

Royal Bank of Scotland vowed there would be no repeat of a system crash two years ago that left millions of customers unable to make or receive payments, after it was fined £56m(€70m) by British regulators yesterday.

The uncertainty over Ulster Bank’s future has come to an end, with parent group Royal Bank of Scotland confirming that the subsidiary remains a core element of its overall business.

Ulster Bank has confirmed it will continue operations in Ireland.

Royal Bank of Scotland will signal on Friday that it intends to retain Ulster Bank as part of its core operations.

Britain is closer to selling part of its stake in Royal Bank of Scotland after seeing a growing appetite for the bank’s shares from financial institutions and it could offer some of the stock to private retail investors.

Royal Bank of Scotland will raise $3bn today when it spins off a 25% stake in one of America’s biggest regional banks.

Britain’s financial regulator has fined Royal Bank of Scotland for selling mortgages without checking if customers could afford them, undermining chief executive Ross McEwan’s efforts to repair the bank’s image.

A huge reduction in the cost of mortgages in arrears helped Ulster Bank to its first profit in six years, it was announced yesterday.

State-backed British lender Royal Bank of Scotland has been formally advised by Morgan Stanley to sell a majority stake in its Irish unit, Ulster Bank, the Sunday Business Post reported.

Ulster Bank’s operating profit for the first six months of the year was £55m (€69.5m) compared with a £381m operating loss for the same period last year following a huge decrease in impairment charges.

Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Ross McEwan has confirmed that there have been negotiations with private equity firms over a possible takeover of Ulster Bank.

The Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA) has called on Ulster Bank to clarify its future following a story in this newspaper about a possible takeover by a private equity firm.

Ulster Bank has confirmed that it is to close a further seven Irish branches, including three in Dublin and one in Cork City.

The injection of private equity funds into Ulster Bank and a merger with another bank, most likely Permanent TSB, are part of a plan being considered by Royal Bank of Scotland.

A shares surge added £2.5bn to the value of state-backed Royal Bank of Scotland today after it said quarterly profits had doubled.

Royal Bank of Scotland has been blocked from paying bonuses twice the size of salaries after its plans were vetoed by the Government.

State-backed Royal Bank of Scotland has agreed to pay £1.5bn to the British taxpayer in a complex deal ultimately enabling it to resume future dividend payouts and which it hopes will accelerate its tortuous return to the private sector.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Britain’s biggest government-owned lender, has hired Ewen Stevenson from Credit Suisse Group as chief financial officer.