Royal Bank of Scotland — which is owned by the UK — has told more than a million business customers that it may have to impose charges on deposits, which would make it the first British bank to introduce negative interest rates.

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 —owner of Ulster Bank — reported a sharp rise in losses in the first quarter yesterday and cautioned on the timing of a return to dividend payouts as lower income, restructuring costs, and sluggish asset sales underscored the challenges still facing the lender.

The UK’s top banks are set for one of their worst first-quarter earnings seasons since the financial crisis, adding to their struggle to win over investors against a backdrop of misconduct charges, a weak economic outlook and uncertainty over Brexit.

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.

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.

Lawmakers in Britain yesterday challenged public officials over whether they had allowed more than £2bn (€2.73bn) of government shares in Royal Bank of Scotland — the owner of Ulster Bank — to be sold too cheaply last month.

Complaints about Britain’s financial firms rose 8% in the first half of this year after a jump in new cases about packaged bank accounts, the UK industry’s watchdog said yesterday.

Britain yesterday took a £1.1bn (€1.56bn) loss on its first sale of shares in Royal Bank of Scotland — parent of Ulster Bank — sparking accusations of poor timing from opposition politicians.

Britain is planning to sell half of its stake in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), worth £16bn (€23bn), within two years of a possible first sale in September, sources with knowledge of government thinking have said.

Royal Bank of Scotland, the owner of Ulster Bank, has invited investment banks to pitch for the role of corporate broker as the UK state-backed lender gears up for a full return to public hands.

Ulster Bank has reported its first yearly profit since the financial crash in 2008.

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.

The Royal Bank of Scotland has announced it has set aside nearly £3bn in England to deal with customer compensation claims.