The Royal Bank of Scotland says it may shed up to 9,000 jobs over the next two years, including 4,500 in Britain, in an effort to cut costs.
The partially nationalised bank says the precise size of job losses is expected be significantly lower than that, and compulsory redundancies will be used only as a last resort.
The bank says it needs to set a strategy to restore the bank to stand-alone strength as soon as possible
The Royal Bank of Scotland, which was once Britain's second biggest, but is now 70% state owned, has already announced 2,700 job cuts this year.
