Royal Bank of Scotland will this week post the biggest loss in British banking history when it reveals that the £5.9bn of write-downs taken against its "toxic" credit market assets have pushed it about £1.3bn into the red for the six months to June, compared with £5bn profit last year, The Telegraph reports.
Questions will be raised about Barclays' credit market impairments when RBS's closest rival reports half-year numbers on Thursday. Barclays is expected to take another £500m of provisions, net of any gains on its own debt, on top of the £1bn already disclosed this year and £1.6bn taken last year. Citigroup analysts reckon the bank, which has just completed a £4.5bn capital raising, needs to write down the portfolio by another £9bn to be as conservative as RBS. DEFAULTS ON AMERICAN corporate junk bonds could more than quadruple in the next year as the declining economy in the United State...
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