Ahead of the bank’s publication of its annual results this week, the Financial Times said RBS planned to shed riskier banking activities and international businesses.
The restructure is expected to reduce the 120,000-strong workforce headcount by about a quarter over the next three to five years.
As a result the bank will become more focused on retail customers, small businesses and larger corporates.
In a video posted on the RBS website this week, chief executive Ross McEwan said: “My aspiration is not to run the world’s biggest bank.
“My aspiration is to run the best bank in the UK – nothing to do with size. A lot of our costs are old costs related to a big global group that we are not any more.”
In related news, bosses in Britain’s biggest banks are set to receive millions of pounds in share payments.
The Guardian newspaper claimed banks plan to make the pay-outs ahead of a European Union imposed cap that will limit bonuses to 100% of salaries – or 200% if shareholders approve larger payments.
