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Royal Bank of Scotland

The Royal Bank of Scotland is one of the UK's oldest banks, founded in Edinburgh in 1727 by Royal Charter.

Today it is the largest bank in Scotland, the second largest in the United Kingdom and Europe, and the fifth largest in the world by market capitalisation. Its shares have a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange.

The bank's head office is in St Andrew's Square, Edinburgh. It has offices throughout Europe, America and Asia

History of the Royal Bank of Scotland

• 1727- founded in Edinburgh by Royal Charter;
• 1783- first branch in Glasgow opens;
• 1874- first London branch opens;
• 1920- acquisition of various small English banks to form Williams Deacons Bank,later combined with Glyn Mills & Co. to form Williams and Glyn's Bank
• 1972- merger with National Commercial Bank of Scotland
• 1980- abortive hostile takeover bid by Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation fails
• 1985- established the Direct Line insurance brand
• 1985- Williams and Glyn's bank name merged with the Royal Bank of Scotland
• 1988- acquisition of Citizens Financial Group of Rhode Island.
• 1997- develops internet banking
• 2000- acquisition of the National Westminster Bank after hostile takeover battle with the Bank of Scotland.

Constituents of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group

• Royal Bank of Scotland- Scottish clearing bank, head office in Edinburgh
• National Westminster Bank- UK clearing bank, head office in London
• Adam and Company- UK private bank
• Citizens Financial Group- US bank group based in New England
• Direct Line- telephone financial services company
• Ulster Bank- Belfast based bank with branches throughout Ireland
• Coutts and Company- UK private bank based in London

Other facts

• The Royal Bank of Scotland still prints its own banknotes for Scotland
• It was the first bank in the world to offer an overdraft facility
• The bank's annual gross profits exceeds the annual budget of the Scottish Government

See also

• British banknotes
• List of banks