RBS to axe jobs as ABN impact, credit crunch bite

LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland Plc (RBS.L) is set to cut hundreds of jobs as it pushes ahead with the integration of Dutch bank ABN AMRO's investment bank and slashes headcount in divisions hit by the credit crunch.

"Since the acquisition of ABN AMRO we have consistently said that as we brought our two wholesale banking businesses together there would be job losses over the course of the next two years. This is unfortunate but inevitable," an RBS spokeswoman said.

"In light of current conditions in some parts of the global credit markets we are also looking at the appropriate size for our businesses affected by this downturn."

The Financial Times reported on Monday that the bank would likely cut about 7,000 jobs of a combined total of 28,000.

The newspaper, without citing sources, said the bank was expected to start writing to staff just below senior management level as early as Wednesday as part of a consultation process likely to take four to six weeks.

RBS declined to comment on the exact size of any potential cuts to its workforce.

People familiar with the matter had earlier this month said RBS was planning to cut 200 jobs in parts of its debt and investment banking units worst affected by the slowdown.

Major banks from Citigroup (C.N) to Merrill Lynch MER.N are expected to cut thousands of jobs this year as their businesses are hit by turbulent market conditions.

(Reporting by Mark Potter and Clara Ferreira-Marques; Editing by Quentin Bryar and David Holmes)