RBS set to face £400m Libor hit

Published on 05/01/2013 00:00

ROYAL Bank of Scotland could be slapped with a £400 million fine as a result of investigations into the Libor fixing scandal, bringing the bank’s total full-year loss to £1.4 billion, an analyst has claimed.

Ian Gordon at Investec said the fine over its role in the manipulation of the key bank interlending rate was “expected imminently”.

As a result of the higher than previously predicted penalty, Investec expects a “sharp correction” in the value of its shares which otherwise performed strongly last year increasing in value just over 60 per cent. Gordon said the £400m “pales into insignificance” compared to the £1.7bn RBS has already paid out over the misselling of payment protection insurance. Investec expects RBS to return to profit this year.