The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba^[1]) is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of the The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc, and together with NatWest and Ulster Bank, provides branch banking facilities throughout the British Isles. The Royal Bank of Scotland has around 700 branches, mainly in Scotland though there are branches in many larger towns and cities throughout England and Wales. The Royal Bank of Scotland and its parent, The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, are completely separate from the fellow Edinburgh based bank, the Bank of Scotland, which pre-dates The Royal Bank of Scotland by 32 years. The Bank of Scotland was effective in raising funds for the Jacobite Rebellion and as a result, The Royal Bank of Scotland was established to provide a bank with strong Hanoverian and Whig ties.

History[link]

Foundation[link]

Dundas House, designed by Sir William Chambers, built in 1774 for Sir Lawrence Dundas, and acquired by the bank in 1821.^[2] Registered Head Office of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group in St Andrew Square, Edinburgh.

The bank traces its origin to the Society of the Subscribed Equivalent Debt, which was set up by investors in the failed Company of Scotland to protect the compensation they received as part of the arrangements of the 1707 Acts of Union. The "Equivalent Society" became the "Equivalent Company" in 1724, and the new company wished to move into banking. The British government received the request favourably as the "Old Bank", the Bank of Scotland, was suspected of having Jacobite sympathies. Accordingly, the "New Bank" was chartered in 1727 as the Royal Bank of Scotland, with Archibald Campbell, Lord Ilay, appointed its first governor.

In 1728, the Royal Bank of Scotland became the first bank in the world to offer an overdraft facility.

Competition with the Bank of Scotland[link]

Competition between the Old and New Banks was fierce and centred on the issue of banknotes. The policy of the Royal Bank was to either drive the Bank of Scotland out of business, or take it over on favourable terms.

The Royal Bank built up large holdings of the Bank of Scotland's notes, which it acquired in exchange for its own notes, then suddenly presented to the Bank of Scotland for payment. To pay these notes, the Bank of Scotland was forced to call in its loans and, in March, 1728, to suspend payments. The suspension relieved the immediate pressure on the Bank of Scotland at the cost of substantial damage to its reputation, and gave the Royal Bank a clear space to expand its own business -- although the Royal Bank's increased note issue also made it more vulnerable to the same tactics.

Despite talk of a merger with the Bank of Scotland, the Royal Bank did not possess the wherewithal to complete the deal. By September, 1728, the Bank of Scotland was able to start redeeming its notes again, with interest, and in March, 1729, it resumed lending. To prevent similar attacks in the future, the Bank of Scotland put an "option clause" on its notes, giving it the right to make the notes interest-bearing while delaying payment for six months; the Royal Bank followed suit. Both banks eventually decided that the policy they had followed was mutually self-destructive and a truce was arranged, but it still took until 1751 before the two banks agreed to accept each other's notes.

Scottish expansion[link]

The bank opened its first branch office outside Edinburgh in 1783 when it opened one in Glasgow. Further branches were opened in Dundee, Rothesay, Dalkeith, Greenock, Port Glasgow, and Leith in the first part of the nineteenth century.

In 1821, the bank moved from its original head office in Edinburgh's Old Town to Dundas House, on St. Andrew Square in the New Town. The building as seen along George Street forms the eastern end of the central vista in New Town. It was designed for Sir Lawrence Dundas by Sir William Chambers as a Palladian mansion, completed in 1774. An axial banking hall (Telling Room) behind the building, designed by John Dick Peddie, was added in 1857; it features a domed roof, painted blue internally, with gold star-shaped coffers.^[2] The banking hall continues in use as a branch of the bank, and Dundas House remains the registered head office of the bank to this day.

The rest of the nineteenth century saw the bank pursue mergers with other Scottish banks, chiefly as a response to failing institutions. The assets and liabilities of the Western Bank were acquired following its collapse in 1857; the Dundee Banking Company was acquired in 1864. By 1910, the Royal Bank of Scotland had 158 branches and around 900 staff.

In 1969, the bank merged with the National Commercial Bank of Scotland to become the largest clearing bank in Scotland.

Expansion into England[link]

Branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland in Islington, London.

The expansion of the British Empire in the latter half of the nineteenth century saw the emergence of London as the largest financial centre in the world, attracting Scottish banks to expand southward into England. The first London branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland opened in 1874. However, English banks moved to prevent further expansion by Scottish banks into England; and, after a government committee was set up to examine the matter, the Scottish banks chose to drop their expansion plans. An agreement was reached, under which English banks would not open branches in Scotland and Scottish banks would not open branches in England outside London. This agreement remained in place until the 1960s, although various cross-border acquisitions were permitted.

The Royal Bank's English expansion plans were resurrected after World War I, when it acquired various small English banks, including London-based Drummonds Bank (in 1924); Williams Deacon's Bank, based in northwestern England (in 1930); and Glyn, Mills & Co. (in 1939); the latter two were merged in 1970 to form Williams and Glyn's Bank, but not rebranded as the Royal Bank of Scotland until 1985. Following the financial crisis of 2007–2010, the RBS Group unveiled plans to resurrect the Williams and Glyn's brand name in preparation for a programme of divestment of its RBS retail banking business in England and its NatWest equivalent in Scotland.^[3] However, The Royal Bank subsequently announced plans to sell these branches to Spanish bank Santander. It is anticipated that Santander will integrate the branches under the Santander brand, rather than Williams and Glyn.

Recent history[link]

This section requires expansion.

On January 20, 2011, RBS were fined £28.58 million for having engaged in anti-competitive practices with Barclays in relation to the pricing of loan products to large professional services firms.^[4]

RBS has recently prevented Basic Account holders from using the ATMs of rival banks.^[5]

Banknotes[link]

Up until the middle of the 19th century, privately owned banks in Great Britain and Ireland were permitted to issue their own banknotes, and money issued by provincial Scottish,^[6] English, Welsh and Irish banking companies circulated freely as a means of payment.^[7] While the Bank of England eventually gained a monopoly for issuing banknotes in England and Wales, Scottish banks retained the right to issue their own banknotes and continue to do so to this day. The Royal Bank of Scotland, along with Clydesdale Bank and Bank of Scotland, still prints its own banknotes

Notes issued by Scottish banks circulate widely and may be used as a means of payment throughout Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom; although they do not have the status of legal tender they are accepted as promissory notes. It should be noted that no paper money is legal tender in Scotland, even that issued by the Bank of England (which is legal tender in England and Wales).

The "Ilay" series (1987)[link]

The star-design ceiling of the Edinburgh banking hall which features on the banknotes

The current series of Royal Bank of Scotland notes was originally issued in 1987. On the front of each note is a picture of Lord Ilay (1682–1761), the first governor of the bank. The image is based on a portrait of Lord Ilay painted in 1744 by the Edinburgh artist Allan Ramsay.^[8]

The front of the notes also include an engraving of the facade of Sir Laurence Dundas's mansion in St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh, which was built by Sir William Chambers in 1774 and later became the bank's headquarters, the bank's coat of arms and the 1969 arrows logo and branding. The background graphic on both sides of the notes is a radial star design which is based on the ornate ceiling of the banking hall in the old headquarters building, designed by John Dick Peddie in 1857.^[9][10]

On the back of the notes are images of Scottish castles, with a different castle for each denomination:^[9]

Current issue in circulation are:

• 1 pound note featuring Edinburgh Castle
• 5 pound note featuring Culzean Castle
• 10 pound note featuring Glamis Castle
• 20 pound note featuring Brodick Castle
• 50 pound note featuring Inverness Castle (introduced in 2005)
• 100 pound note featuring Balmoral Castle

Commemorative banknotes[link]

Occasionally the Royal Bank of Scotland issues special commemorative banknotes to mark particular occasions or to celebrate famous people. The Royal Bank was the first British bank to print commemorative banknotes in 1992, and followed with several subsequent special issues. These notes are much sought-after by collectors and they rarely remain long in circulation. Examples to date have included:^[11][12]

• a £1 note to mark the meeting of the Council of the European Union in Holyrood Palace during the UK's Presidency of the Council of the European Union (1992)
• a £1 note to mark the 100th Anniversary of the death of Robert Louis Stevenson (1994)
• a £1 note to mark the 150th Anniversary of the birth of Alexander Graham Bell (1997)
• a £20 note for the 100th birthday of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (2000)
• a £5 note honouring veteran golfer Jack Nicklaus in his last competitive Open Championship at St Andrews (2005).
• a £1 note to mark the opening of the Scottish Parliament, depicting the General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland, the temporary home of the parliament, and a diagram of the floorplan of the new parliament building, designed by Enric Miralles (1999)
• a £10 note to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. On the reverse of the commemorative note are four intaglio portraits of Elizabeth II, showing her at different stages of her life (2012)^[13]

Branding[link]

RBS branding on a branch in Jersey

RBS logo with Scottish Gaelic writing in Portree.

The RBS Group uses branding developed for the Bank on its merger with the National Commercial Bank of Scotland in 1969.^[14] The Group's logo takes the form of an abstract symbol of four inward-pointing arrows known as the "Daisy Wheel" and is based on an arrangement of 36 piles of coins in a 6 by 6 square,^[14] representing the accumulation and concentration of wealth by the Group.^[14] The Daisy Wheel logo was later adopted by RBS subsidiaries Worldpay, Ulster Bank in Ireland and Citizens Financial Group in the United States.

Since 2006, the brand has moved away from referring to both the Group brand and its retail banking brand as the "Royal Bank of Scotland", instead using the "RBS" initialism. This is intended to support the positioning of the bank as a Global financial services player as opposed to its roots as a national bank. An example of the current branding can be found in the Six Nations Championship in rugby union, which it sponsors as the RBS 6 Nations. However, "Royal Bank of Scotland" is still used alongside the RBS initialism, with both appearing on bank signage.

RBS sponsored the Williams F1 team from 2005 until the end of 2010.^[15] They also were the title sponsor for the Canadian Grand Prix from 2005 until the end of 2008. They have supported tennis player Andy Murray since he was aged 13.^[15]

Controversies[link]

The large RBS bonus payments subsequent to the UK government bailouts have led to controversy.^[16] Staff bonuses were nearly £1 billion in 2010, even though RBS reported losses of £1.1 billion for 2010. More than 100 senior bank executives were paid in excess of £1 million each in bonuses.^[17]

84 percent of the RBS is now owned by the UK government (taxpayer), which bought RBS stock for £45 billion, representing 50 pence per share. In 2011, the shares were worth 19 pence, representing a taxpayer book loss of £26 billion. Historically, the RBS stock price went from a high of over 700 pence in early 2007 (taking into account a 3 for 1 stock split that took place later that year) to around 20 pence in late 2011.^[18]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Royal Bank of Scotland

Companies portal

• Royal Bank of Scotland Website
• Royal Bank of Scotland companies grouped at OpenCorporates
• Website of the Year 2007 - Winner Best Finance Site

v t e The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Banking: Adam & Company · Child & Co. · Citizens Bank · Coutts & Co. · Drummonds Bank · First Active · Isle of Man Bank · Mint · National Westminster Bank · The Royal Bank of Scotland · The Royal Bank of Scotland International · The One account · Ulster Bank · X-ite Insurance and Motoring: Churchill Insurance · Devitt Insurance · Direct Line · Finsure · Green Flag · Jamjarcars · Lombard Direct · NIG  · Privilege · Tracker · UKI Partnerships Corporate and Payment Services: RBS Aviation Capital · RBS Securities · RBS WorldPay Annual Group Revenue: £25.8 billion GBP ( £24.1 billion FY 2008) · Employees: 199,500 · Stock Symbol: LSE: RBS · Website: www.rbs.com

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