Royal Bank of Scotland announces up to 2,300 UK job losses

The Royal Bank of Scotland announced that it would slash up to 2,300 jobs in Britain because of the economic crisis. That represents about 2 percent of the bank's 106,000-strong U.K. work force, the company said.

"We recognize that any news of this nature is unwelcome at any time," chief executive Alan Dickinson said. "It is essential, however, that we consistently review our business to ensure that we are able to operate as efficiently as possible, especially in the current economic circumstances."

The restructuring comes at a perilous time for the troubled institution.

RBS has warned that it will post the largest corporate loss in British history -- as much as 28 billion pounds ($41.6 billion) -- when it publishes its 2008 full-year results on Feb. 26.

The bank has been the biggest beneficiary of bailouts from the British government, which is soon expected to hold more than two thirds of the company's shares.

The cutbacks were announced hours after former RBS chairman Tom McKillop and chief executive Fred Goodwin appeared before a British parliamentary committee to apologize for what had gone wrong at the bank. They were among a group of banking chiefs who lined up to offer penance before shareholders and the public at the hearing Tuesday.

Dickinson said in a statement that the bank would consult with the trade union Unite in an effort to keep layoffs "to a minimum." The union's joint leader Derek Simpson complained that employees were being shown the door because senior bankers "played Monopoly with the money of established finance companies."