In an email sent to all RBS staff today, CEO Stephen Hester confirmed that the bank accumulated clean-up costs of £38bn over the past three years.
He said: “RBS is still in its loss making phase which inevitably gives us communication challenges. The losses ironically are a measure of our recovery success. Over the last three years we have generated over £33bn of pre-impairment profits from improving our Core businesses in the face of many challenges.
“This has allowed us to afford to take the costs of “clean up” from our risky inheritance, in loan losses, disposal costs and restructuring charges to £38bn so far.”
He said that the bank is “ahead of schedule in that clean-up” and is a much safer company as a result.
Hester also advised his staff to be “purposeful, calm, and do our jobs to the best of our ability.”
Click here to read the letter in full to staff
