RBS

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) shares have plummeted despite a strong early surge after the group confirmed it is considering a rights issue which could provide up to £12bn to strengthen its capital base.

Royal Bank of Scotland, Britain's second biggest bank, is considering launching a multi billion-pound cash call on its shareholders to shore up its balance sheet, in a move that may prompt similar action by its rivals, The Guardian reports.

New Star Asset Management will this week unveil plans to return up to £350m to shareholders in a move which would see its chairman John Duffield pocket £70m, says the Daily Telegraph .

A record year for insurer Norwich Union has helped parent company Aviva report a 12% rise in profits for 2006, says the Daily Telegraph .

MORE THAN 50,000 policyholders, who failed to register before the original deadline for free Standard Life discounted shares, have now claimed their windfalls, reports The Scotsman .

THE GOVERNMENT could force companies to pay higher levies to its £575m pensions lifeboat after a key finding yesterday by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

Global inflation is rising, Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, warned last night, adding that threats and opportunities from abroad were now more important for UK inflation than domestic economic issues, reports the Financial Times.

HEDGE FUNDS ARE creating a "major risk" to global financial stability, although there may be little that can be done to tackle the problem, the European Central Bank suggested yesterday.

WORKERS AT Royal Bank of Scotland, one of Britain's biggest companies, will be given the option of receiving cash in hand rather than saving for their retirement after plans to close the bank's final-salary pension scheme, reports The Times .

HENDERSON GROUP yesterday became a front-runner to buy Gartmore fund management group after shelving a payout to shareholders which will give it the necessary fire power, reports The Times .