TAKING CONTROL OF RBS PEOPLE-POWERED BANKING THAT PUTS COMMUNITIES FIRST
EIGHT YEARS Taking control of RBS and turning it into a network of 130 local banks ON FROM THE would help rebalance the economy FINANCIAL CRISIS, by investing in communities and businesses left behind by our London- RBS IS STILL FAILING centric economic model. ITS CUSTOMERS AND ITS OWNER – 1. THE URGENT NEED FOR THE UK PUBLIC. A NEW ECONOMY The UK’s vote to leave the European Union exposed deep underlying regional divides. Research conducted since the referendum has found that geographical distribution of living standards played a key role in determining how people voted1,2. Part of the reason for this can be found in the UK’s notoriously uneven economic landscape. Figure 1 shows the distribution of output within each EU member state, shown as the spread between their poorest region and their richest. The UK is clearly the most geographically unequal country in the EU. Inner London is the richest single area and sits at the top of the UK’s line, but West Wales and The Valleys, the region at the very bottom of the UK’s graph, is poorer than some recent EU accession countries. NEW ECONOMICS FOUNDATION TAKING CONTROL OF RBS PEOPLE-POWERED BANKING THAT PUTS COMMUNITIES FIRST
FIGURE 1: REGIONAL DISPARITIES IN GDP PER CAPITA BY EU MEMBER STATE, 2013/14 (EU28 AVERAGE = 100)
600
500
400
300
200
100
0 ITALY ITALY SPAIN SPAIN MALTA MALTA LATVIA LATVIA SERBIA CYPRUS GREECE GREECE FRANCE SWEDEN AUSTRIA AUSTRIA IRELAND POLAND ICELAND FINLAND ESTONIA ESTONIA BELGIUM BELGIUM CROATIA CROATIA NORWAY NORWAY SLOVAKIA SLOVAKIA SLOVENIA SLOVENIA BULGARIA BULGARIA DENMARK ROMANIA ROMANIA HUNGARY HUNGARY GERMANY LITHUANIA PORTUGAL MACEDONIA MACEDONIA SWITZERLAND LUXEMBOURG LUXEMBOURG NETHERLANDS CZECH REPUBLIC CZECH UNITED KINGDOM KEY: NATIONAL AVERAGE CAPITAL REGION
Source: Eurostat3
The last few decades have seen this 2. COMMUNITIES LEFT BEHIND BY gap increase as growth has been OUR GLOBAL ECONOMY driven by financial services in London The growing polarisation of the UK and the South East while many economy has been accompanied communities have been left behind by significant transformation in the by a decline in British industry. The landscape of the financial sector. A result of EU referendum can be viewed wave of mergers and consolidation in as an expression of this economic the late 1960s and early 1970s saw the polarisation, with some describing the UK banking sector become increasingly outcome as a vote “against the London concentrated, and this was further economy”4. accelerated by legislative changes in the mid-to-late 1980s which led to On current trends, things are likely to the decline of Building Societies as a get worse. Many of the communities significant component of the overall that voted to leave have also banking market6. One example of this benefitted the most from EU regional can be seen with the fate of the Trustee development funding, meaning that Savings Banks. In 1976, 20% of the they stand to lose the most from UK population had an account at a leaving the EU5. There is therefore an Trustee Savings Bank and yet by 1986 urgent need to rebalance the economy the sector had been transformed into and promote sustainable economic a single national shareholder bank. In development in areas that have been 1995 it finally disappeared in a merger left behind by our London-centric with Lloyds Bank7. economic model. NEW ECONOMICS FOUNDATION TAKING CONTROL OF RBS PEOPLE-POWERED BANKING THAT PUTS COMMUNITIES FIRST
Meanwhile, waves of deregulation local economy. These often take the beginning in the 1970s led to rapid institutional form of co-operatives, growth in financial sector activity and mutuals and public savings banks profitability. The share of total profits (hereafter referred to as ‘stakeholder absorbed by financial corporations, banks’)11. having been very low at around 1% through the 1950s and the 1960s, grew Empirical studies from European substantially from the early 1980s to counties12,13 have shown that the present day, reaching 15% after geographically-limited stakeholder the financial crisis8.The result of this is banks help reduce ‘capital drain’ to that the UK now has among the largest urban centres and thus regional and most concentrated banking sector inequality, and other studies have in the advanced economies, with the shown that such banks direct a much top 3 banks owning over half of all greater proportion of their capital bank assets9. The UK is also unusual towards real economy lending14. in that it lacks a significant local or Local sources of finance are often an regional banking presence – the important determinant for economic market is overwhelmingly dominated development by creating and by national and often internationally retaining wealth regionally rather than orientated banks. Approximately 67%, reinforcing existing geographic lending 57% and 34% of the banking systems imbalances. in Germany, Japan and America respectively are locally controlled, In contrast, UK banking is dominated compared to just 3% in the UK (see by large corporations whose main Figure 2). aim is to maximise shareholder return. Without a focus on specific In other countries local banking geographical areas or social objectives, sectors play a key role in promoting these banks choose to allocate their local economies, and these banks are capital to the most profitable activities, often characterised by stakeholder and lending to local businesses – often ownership and governance – in other involving high transaction costs for words the mission of the bank is not relatively small loans – is less profitable to maximise profits but to optimise than other activities such as mortgage returns to a range of stakeholders, lending and lending to other financial including customers and the broader institutions. The result is that since the
FIGURE 2: BANKS’ MARKET SHARES OF DEPOSITS BY GEOGRAPHIC SCALE
GERMANY
JAPAN
UNITED STATES
BRAZIL
CANADA
UNITED KINGDOM
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
KEY: NATIONAL BANKS REGIONAL/ LOCAL BANKS
Source: New Economics Foundation10
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mid-1980s the share of lending going By leaving many regions on the to businesses has been falling rapidly, wrong side of the UK’s finance-led and now represents less than 10% of economy, the UK’s homogenous and total lending (see red colour in figure highly concentrated banking sector 3). Meanwhile, lending to financial has contributed towards a lack of institutions for speculative trading has productive investment and growing boosted the profitability of the City, and regional imbalances. Re-establishing a rapid increase in mortgage lending local and regional sources of finance has contributed towards a boom in should therefore be a key priority house prices which are now nine times in addressing these acute regional average incomes across England and imbalances and promoting economic Wales, and up to 20 times incomes in renewal across the country. London and the South East15.
FIGURE 3: UK DOMESTIC BANKS – COMPOSITION OF NET LENDING BY INDUSTRIAL SECTOR
100
90 KEY:
80 FINANCIAL SECTOR INSURANCE & PENSIONS 70 OTHER (PUBLIC SECTOR, 60 GOVERNMENT, FUND MANAGEMENT COMPANIES, 50 CENTRAL CREDIT CLEARING)
PERCENTAGE 40 PERSONAL UNSECURED PERSONAL SECURED 30 COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE 20 BUSINESS (NON-REAL ESTATE, 10 NON-FINANCIAL)
0 1986 1997 2008 2014
Source: New Economics Foundation16
Of the business lending that does occur 3. RBS: THE OLD MODEL AND A in the UK, most is heavily concentrated RECORD OF FAILURE in London and surrounding areas. According to the most recent available As a result of the emergency bail-out data, 33% of SME lending goes to package in October 2008, the British London and the South East compared public acquired a majority shareholding to just 8% to Scotland, 5% to Wales and in RBS at a total cost of £45.5 billion. 3% to the North East17. In August 2015 the Government conducted its first RBS share sale since the financial crisis, disposing of a 5.4 per cent stake which raised £2.1bn of proceeds and left the UK government with a 73% stake in the company18.
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In recent years RBS has undergone RBS Global Restructuring Group major restructuring in an attempt to In the wake of the financial crash refocus on its core business. In April more than 12,000 companies were 2014, RBS announced a new strategy pushed into the bank’s controversial to focus on UK retail banking and “turnaround” division – the so-called simplified its structure, grouping its Global Restructuring Group (GRG). activities into three distinct businesses. This division has become notorious for It has also sold its US bank, Citizens its behaviour towards SMEs and has Financial Group, and has transferred for years been accused of deliberately high risk assets into a so-called bad pushing businesses towards insolvency bank – RBS Capital Resolution. In in order to shore up RBS’ own capital order to comply with conditions position, in some cases then buying up attached to the bail-out in 2008, RBS their assets cheaply. also attempted to launch Williams & Glynn – a bank with 314 branches, These accusations have now been approximately £20 billion of loans and substantiated by internal leaked £22 billion of customer deposits – as a documents that were published by new challenger bank. However, after BuzzFeed News and BBC Newsnight years of expensive delays RBS recently on 10 October 201623. The documents announced that it had abandoned show that bank employees were plans to launch it as a new standalone rewarded with higher bonuses based bank and will instead seek to sell on fees collected for “restructuring” 19 the assets and branches to a rival . business customers’ debts – cutting the Previously the government has used size of their loans and getting cash or the spin-off of Williams & Glynn as other assets from the customer. In what an argument against reforming RBS, was described by one RBS executive as stating that the creation of a new “Project Dash for Cash”, employees challenger bank will improve banking were asked to seek out companies that diversity through new “challenger could be restructured or have their 20 branches” . While this argument was interest rates increased. Where business always flawed, confusing local branches customers had not defaulted on their with local banks, it is clear that with loans, bank staff were encouraged to Williams & Glynn now being sold to a find a way to “provoke a default”. rival this reasoning is no longer valid. In September 2016 it was revealed that Many business owners say that HM Treasury drafted in Rothschild unrealistically low valuations were used investment bank to help speed up the to claim they had breached their loan 21 sale process . covenant or terms of business and force them into the GRG. In many cases the Despite this restructuring, RBS has bank then sought to impose higher struggled to improve its performance. interest and fees, pressure customers The company has run eight successive to sell assets to pay down loans or years of losses amounting to a total push the business into administration of £50 billion, and despite repeated to enable asset stripping. Many of the pledges to improve customer small business owners affected say satisfaction, RBS was ranked bottom they have not only lost their businesses out of more than 30 banks for customer but also experienced family break- satisfaction in a recent survey carried ups and deteriorating physical and out by consumer group Which?22.
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mental health due to the stress of their RBS has been most aggressive in its treatment at the hands of the bank. programme of branch closures, being Others have been made homeless or responsible for 385 of these closures – bankrupt. one in every three27. Despite promising in 2010 to “never to close the last bank In light of these revelations, the in town”, 165 of these closures were Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has the last branch in town – accounting been urged to publish its long-awaited for around half of all such closures in but repeatedly delayed investigation the UK. The result is that there are now into the GRG. A group of 500 1,500 communities across the UK with businesses is suing RBS for the conduct no bank and another 840 with only of the GRG and is also threatening one bank remaining, leaving many legal action against the FCA if it does vulnerable customers and businesses not immediately publish its report into without access to essential services. the scandal24. As well as increasing the risk of Conduct and litigation charges financial exclusion, bank branch Since the financial crisis RBS’s financial coverage is important for SMEs – not performance has been weighed down only as a means to carry out essential by extensive conduct and litigation transactions, but also because evidence charges relating to gross misconduct suggests this may be a factor in the at the bank. According to the CCP geographical distribution of lending. Research Foundation, between 2011 Research conducted by Move Your and 2015 RBS paid out £14.7 billion Money found that branch closures in fines, legal bills and customer have been associated with a decline in compensation25. These charges business lending, with SME lending relate to litigation and investigations growth falling by 63% on average in covering a range of activities including postcodes that lost a bank branch, securitisation and mortgage-backed increasing to 104% for postcodes that 28 securities, foreign exchange trading lost their last-bank-in-town . and rate-setting activities, London Worryingly, RBS appears to be closing Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) branches in communities that need fixing, product mis-selling (including them most, whilst opening new mis-selling of Payment Protection branches in affluent urban areas. This Insurance), treatment of SME year alone, RBS has closed over 100 customers in financial difficulty, and branches in predominantly rural and money laundering26. Many of these non-affluent areas, whilst opening investigations are still ongoing – new branches in the prime real including a substantial case being estate locations of Canary Wharf and pursued by the US Ministry of Justice – Bishopsgate – changes that will act to and it is likely that future conduct and reinforce existing geographic lending litigation charges could be substantial. imbalances. The result is that today Branch closures the UK has only a third as many bank branches per person as other European In recent years the large UK banks countries. If these trends are allowed to have embarked on major programme continue unchecked, SMEs will find it of branch closures in an attempt to cut even harder to access finance and basic costs in the face of downward pressure banking services. on profits. In 2014 and 2015 alone 1,150 branches were closed across the UK.
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Using the methodology that the TABLE 1: EUROPEAN COMPARISON Foundation published in 201530, we OF BANK BRANCHES calculate that selling the government’s COUNTRY BRANCHES (PER MILLION remaining 73% stake in RBS would INHABITANTS) yield around £15 billion, resulting in a UK 150 (180 including building loss to the taxpayer of an eye-watering societies) £30 billion. On 18 October the France 410 Financial Times reported that the Office Italy 520 for Budget Responsibility is preparing Germany 450 to once again revise up its forecast Spain 720 on the likely losses on the taxpayer’s stake in RBS as part of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, creating a £7bn Source: Campaign for Community Banking Services29 hole in plans to reduce the level of public debt31. Share price Both the Treasury and RBS now Despite the UK government’s initial acknowledge that the bank cannot be claim that it would not sell RBS at a sold in the foreseeable future and have loss, it is becoming increasingly clear delayed the sale for at least another that there is no way the taxpayer can two years32. make its money back by selling RBS back to the private sector. Following the result of the EU referendum the 4. TAKING REAL CONTROL OF RBS RBS share price fell to its lowest level Eight years after the financial crisis, it since the collapse of 2009, causing is clear that RBS is still not delivering shares to be temporarily suspended for customers or its owner – the UK from trading (see Figure 4). public. With it now being clear that RBS cannot be sold in the foreseeable future, it’s time for the government to put all options for the bank’s future
FIGURE 4: ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND SHARE PRICE IN 2016 (DASHED LINE = EU REFERENDUM)
350
300
250
200
150
100 JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT
Source: Yahoo Finance
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back on the table and urgently examine • The new local banks would be retail whether there are alternatives that banks focused on households and could deliver better value for taxpayers local businesses, including social and the economy. As we set out in our enterprises and charities. report ‘Reforming RBS: Local banking for the public good’, transforming Public service mandate RBS into a network of 130 local banks Each new local bank would have a with a public service mandate and public service mandate to serve the supervised by citizen stakeholders common good by the provision of would transform the face of UK financial services according to the domestic retail banking and bring following principles: significant economic benefits. • to restrict its activities to the The key features of our proposal are as geographic region in which the follows: enterprise is domiciled;
• The government should purchase • to conduct the bank’s business so as the remaining minority interest to benefit the economy of the region; shares in RBS to take complete control for a transitionary phase. • to promote positive attitudes to saving and to advance financial • The Corporate & Institutional literacy; Banking and Private Banking divisions should be divested, and • to provide access to basic the capital realised used to repay transactional banking services to all the cost of buying out the minority citizens regardless of income, wealth, interest and to bolster the bank’s or social status; capital position. • to provide access to personal credit • The bank would be separated into on fair and affordable terms; 130 local banks in England, based on local authority areas and subject to • to support private, social, and public consultation. enterprise through the provision of appropriate financial products and • The degree of decentralisation services, including advice; for the Scottish and Welsh parts, and Ulster Bank, would be a • to manage the bank’s capital matter for their respective national prudently; and governments. • to earn sufficient profits to grow • The local banks would operate as a the bank’s capital, to maintain its network, with a mutual guarantee commercial vitality, and to invest scheme based on the German in the delivery of its objectives. savings bank model. Although the bank will aim to generate profits, but this is not the • Central functions such as IT, primary purpose of the bank. training, marketing, regulatory compliance, public affairs, liquidity management, and specialist financial services would be retained in a group entity jointly owned by the member local banks.
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Ownership and governance the nominations, instead the right to nominate representatives It is proposed that the new network of would be given to all political local banks are owned and governed groups, including those sitting as under a public trust structure, which independents, in proportion to the is similar to the ownership and votes cast at the most recent local governance model of retail group the election. This formulation prevents John Lewis Partnership. Under this domination by a single party. The model, a Management Board would restriction of political representation have responsibility for the day-to- to one-third of the Board of day running of the bank, while a Trustees prevents the likelihood of Board of Trustees consisting of wider interference in the banks decisions stakeholder representatives would about individual lending projects, set the overall strategy for the bank over which the Board of Trustees in and hold the Management Board to any case has no jurisdiction. account for delivering against the bank’s objectives. 2. Employees – One-third of the Trustees should be elected by We suggest that three groups of the bank’s employees. Worker stakeholders should be represented representation on the supervisory on the Board of Trustees: board not only ensures that a vital 1. Local government – One-third of stakeholder voice is heard, it can the Trustees should be nominated also serve as a source of on-the- by elected representatives to ground intelligence for the Board provide broad representation of the as a whole, shortening the long citizens of the local area. It would lines of communication that exist in not be the ruling party that controls command and control hierarchies.
FIGURE 5: OWNERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE OF NEW LOCAL BANKS
BOARD OF TRUSTEES ROYAL BANK OF PLACE TRUSTEE COMPANY LTD
Employee Local government Other stakeholders: 100% OWNERSHIP representatives representatives e.g. customers, OF ORDINARY businesses VOTING SHARES
MANAGEMENT BOARD ROYAL BANK OF PLACE PLC Chief Executive, Finance Director, Chief Credit Officer, etc
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3. Other local stakeholders – The Local stakeholder banks can maintain final third of the Trustees would intimate knowledge of local people comprise of representatives from and the local economy, and evidence other key stakeholders, such as suggests that they are better than personal customers, local chambers commercial banks at seeking and of commerce, and representatives assimilating the ‘soft’ information of other organisations, such as needed to holistically assess the social enterprises and charities and prospects of small firms. Often educational institutions, who would described as ‘relationship banking’, this provide both insight and oversight approach ameliorates the information for the delivery of the bank’s public asymmetry which makes SME lending interest mandate. unattractive to larger banks, where the drive for process efficiency and control Investing in communities that have leads to centralised systems of credit been left behind scoring that become blind to regional, Evidence from other countries such as local and firm specific conditions. Germany shows that local stakeholder By only investing in their local banking networks focus more on real area, stakeholder banks create and economy lending. Across Europe, retain wealth regionally rather than stakeholder banks on average lend reinforcing existing geographic 66% of their assets to individuals lending imbalances. This contributes and businesses in the real economy, to increased access to finance in areas compared with only 37% for large which are poorly served by commercial shareholder-owned banks33. As figure banks – particularly relevant to the 6 shows, German stakeholder banks current UK context as commercial have steadily increased lending to banks are rapidly withdrawing from SMEs in recent years while RBS has rural areas. dramatically cut back its lending.
FIGURE 6: SME LENDING – RBS AND GERMAN STAKEHOLDER BANKS
110
105
100
95
90
85
INDEX (Q2 2013 = 100) 80
75 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 2013 2013 2013 2014 2014 2014 2014 2015 2015 2015 2015
KEY: RBS GERMAN STAKEHOLDER BANKS Source: British Bankers Association34, Deutsche Bundesbank35
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One of the key parts of the public labour intensive36. It is also important service mandate of the new local RBS to consider the quality of jobs, not just banks would be to act in the best their quantity. When decision-making interests of the local businesses, and to is devolved to the local level rather than have a strong commitment to the local centralised to head offices, employees economy. In addition, the different have more autonomy, responsibility, customer focus of local stakeholder and opportunities to develop new skills. banking networks would entail a Each of the 130 banks will require senior reweighting of RBS’s capital away from management and a range of skilled supporting credit to financial services professional staff from human resources and commercial property sectors, to lawyers and accountants. Local where London dominates, and towards banking should thus also be viewed as lending for investment in production an opportunity to help provide good job sectors such as manufacturing, opportunities outside of London. retailing and distribution, telecoms, construction, and energy, which are 5. PEOPLE-POWERED BANKING more distributed throughout the THAT PUTS COMMUNITIES FIRST regions of the UK. Eight years on from the financial crisis, Turning it into a network of local it is clear that RBS is not delivering for banks could therefore help boost real customers or its owner – the UK public. economy lending while investing in communities that have been left behind With the share price of RBS crashing by our London-centric economic model following the UK’s vote to leave the EU, – exactly the kinds of communities who it’s time for the government to put all voted to leave the European Union. options for the bank’s future back on the table and urgently examine whether Jobs, skills and economic renewal there are alternatives that could deliver Because branches are crucial when better value for taxpayers and the it comes to maintaining close face- economy. to-face relationships with customers, Big, deep challenges require big, deep local banks also generally provide solutions. It’s time for small businesses, more extensive branch networks bank customers, rural communities and than larger banks. The public service unions to unite and demand a response mandate we propose for RBS will give from government that matches the scale it the corporate mission and financial of the crisis we face. structure that will enable it to fulfil the public interest in maintaining universal By creating a network of local branch coverage throughout the UK. banks investing in disenfranchised communities, we can start transforming As well as having more branches, our broken banking system into one that evidence from European countries works for the people. shows that local banks tend to hire proportionately more staff than large banks, reflecting the fact that this kind of ‘relationship banking’ is more
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ENDNOTES 1. Clarke, S. & Whittaker, M. (2016). The Importance of Place: explaining the characteristics underpinning the Brexit vote across different parts of the UK. Resolution Foundation. Retrieved from: http://www. resolutionfoundation.org/publications/the-important-of-place-explaining-the-characteristics- underpinning-the-brexit-vote-across-different-parts-of-the-uk/
2. Tily, G. (2016). Another view on the referendum results: Unity – not division – against the metropolitan economy. http://touchstoneblog.org.uk/2016/07/another-view-referendum-results-unity-not- division-metropolitan-economy/
3. Eurostat (2016). 2014 GDP per capita in 276 EU regions. Retrieved from: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ documents/2995521/7192292/1-26022016-AP-EN.pdf/602b34e8-abba-439e-b555-4c3cb1dbbe6e
4. Hilton, A. (2016, 24 June). The country has voted against the London economy with Brexit. Evening Standard. Retrieved from: http://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/anthony-hilton-the- country-has-voted-against-the-london-economy-with-brexit-a3280231.html
5. Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute (2016). UK regions and European structural and investment funds. British Political Economy Brief No. 24. Retrieved from: http://ukandeu.ac.uk/ research-papers/uk-regions-and-european-structural-and-investment-funds/
6. Department for Business Innovation & Skills (2016). SME lending and competition: an international comparison of markets. Retrieved from: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/ attachment_data/file/522490/bis-16-105-small-and-medium-sized-enterprise-lending.pdf
7. Greenham, T. et al. (2015). Reforming RBS: Local banking for the public good. New Economics Foundation. Retrieved from: http://b.3cdn.net/nefoundation/141039750996d1298f_5km6y1sip.pdf
8. Reed, H., Himmelweit, J.M., (2012). Where Have All the Wages Gone?: Lost Pay and Profits Outside Financial Services. TUC, London. Retrieved from: https://www.tuc.org.uk/sites/default/files/tucfiles/ where_have_all_the_wages_gone_touchstone_extras_2012.pdf
9. Berry, C. et al. (2016). Our friends in the City: Why banking’s return to business as usual threatens our economy. New Economics Foundation. Retrieved from: http://b.3cdn.net/nefoundation/ b45df453702219060e_h8m6y71zc.pdf
10. Greenham, T. et al. (2015). Reforming RBS: Local banking for the public good. New Economics Foundation. Retrieved from: http://b.3cdn.net/nefoundation/141039750996d1298f_5km6y1sip.pdf
11. Prieg, L. and Greenham, T. (2012). Stakeholder banks: benefits of banking diversity. New Economics Foundation. Retrieved from: http://b.3cdn.net/nefoundation/e0b3bd2b9423abfec8_pem6i6six.pdf
12. Usai, S., & Vannini, M. (2005). Banking Structure and Regional Economic Growth: Lessons from Italy. Annals of Regional Science, 39(4), 691-714
13. Hakenes, H., Schmidt, R., & Xie, R. (2009). Public Banks and Regional Development: Evidence from German savings banks. Retrieved from http://ssrn.com/abstract=1343048
14. Ferri et al. (2014) ‘Does bank ownership affect lending behaviour? Evidence from the euro area’. Journal of Banking & Finance 48 (2014), 194-209
15. Martin, A. & Ryan-Collins, J. (2016). The financialisation of UK homes. New Economics Foundation. Retrieved from: http://b.3cdn.net/nefoundation/496c07a5b30026d43a_d1m6i26iy.pdf
16. Berry, C. et al. (2016). Our friends in the City: Why banking’s return to business as usual threatens our economy. New Economics Foundation. Retrieved from: http://b.3cdn.net/nefoundation/ b45df453702219060e_h8m6y71zc.pdf
17. British Bankers Association. (2016). SME Statistics. Retrieved from: https://www.bba.org.uk/news/ statistics/sme-statistics/
18. UK Financial Investments Ltd (2016) Annual report and accounts 2015/16. Retrived from: http://www.ukfi.co.uk/publications/
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19. Dunkley, E. (2016, 7 August) RBS carveout plagued by technology troubles. Financial Times. Retrieved from: https://www.ft.com/content/56b0f7f4-5b0a-11e6-9f70-badea1b336d4
20. House of Commons Hansard. (2015). MPs debate RBS and the future of UK banking. Retrieved from: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmhansrd/cm151105/debtext/151105-0003. htm
21. Kleinman, M. (2016, 28 September). Treasury drafts in advisers as RBS branch sale hits crisis point. Sky News. Retrieved from: http://news.sky.com/story/treasury-drafts-in-advisers-as-rbs-branch- sale-hits-crisis-point-10597249
22. Treanor, J. (2016, 13 February). RBS named worst bank for customer satisfaction. Guardian. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/feb/13/rbs-worst-bank-customer- satisfaction-survey-which-first-direct-top
23. Black, H., Warren, T., Bradley, J., & Holmes, R. (2016, October 10). The Dash For Cash: Leaked Files Reveal RBS Systematically Crushed British Businesses For Profit. Buzzfeed. Retrieved from: https://www.buzzfeed.com/heidiblake/dash-for-cash?utm_term=.xbw5bNo2a#.hlMvBwDP1
24. Fraser, I. (2016, October 17). RBS ‘Dash for Cash’ scandal: 500 firms suing bank turn anger on regulator. The Herald. Retrieved from: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14804735.RBS____ Dash_for_Cash____scandal__500_firms_suing_bank_turn_anger_on_regulator/
25. CCP Research Foundation (2016). Conduct costs project report 2015. Retrieved from: http://ccpresearchfoundation.com/noticeboard?item=30635-conduct-costs-report-2015
26. RBS (2015). Annual Report and Accounts 2015. Retrieved from: http://www.rbs.com/content/dam/ rbs/Documents/News/2016/February/annual-report-2015.pdf
27. Move Your Money (2015). Taxpayer-owned RBS the worst bank for branch closures. Retrieved from: http://moveyourmoney.org.uk/branch-closures/
28. Move Your Money (2016). Abandoned Communities: The Crisis of UK Bank Branch Closures and their Impact on Local Economies. Retrieved from: http://moveyourmoney.org.uk/abandoned- communities/
29. Campaign for Community Banking Services (2014). Branch Network Reduction: 2014 Report. Retrieved from: http://www.communitybanking.org.uk/report_reduction_2014.htm
30. Greenham, T. (2015). Calculating the loss: Counting the true cost of an RBS fire sale. New Economics Foundation. Retrieved from: http://b.3cdn.net/nefoundation/5e17ffbcdbfaa35cb3_6zm6 bn15d.pdf
31. Arnold, A. (2016, 18 October). UK to write down value of RBS stake for second time in 6 months. Financial Times. Retrieved from: https://www.ft.com/content/93a76cbc-945b-11e6-a1dc- bdf38d484582
32. Financial Times (2016): RBS reprivatisation faces 2-year delay due to Brexit share price fall. Retrieved from: https://next.ft.com/content/491b8c44-41dd-11e6-b22f-79eb4891c97d
33. Greenham, T. et al. (2015). Reforming RBS: Local banking for the public good. New Economics Foundation. Retrieved from: http://b.3cdn.net/nefoundation/141039750996d1298f_5km6y1sip.pdf
34. British Bankers Association. (2016). SME Statistics. Retrieved from: https://www.bba.org.uk/news/ statistics/sme-statistics/
35. Deutsche Bundesbank. (2016). Banking statistics. Retrieved from: https://www.bundesbank.de/ Navigation/EN/Service/Reporting_systems/Banking_statistics/banking_statistics.html
36. Greenham, T. et al. (2015). Reforming RBS: Local banking for the public good. New Economics Foundation. Retrieved from: http://b.3cdn.net/nefoundation/141039750996d1298f_5km6y1sip.pdf
13 NEW ECONOMICS FOUNDATION TAKING CONTROL OF RBS PEOPLE-POWERED BANKING THAT PUTS COMMUNITIES FIRST
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