Bailed-out bank races to complete review of operations to end uncertainty in the division. Senior managers at Royal Bank of Scotland are racing to complete a strategic review of its investment bank as soon as next week in an effort to end the lingering uncertainty hanging over the 17,000 bankers employed by the division. The bailed-out bank is expected to concede that as many as 5,000 roles will be shed as it pulls out of equities to focus on areas such as helping major companies raise money on the financial markets.

Stephen Hester, chief executive of RBS, had begun an overhaul of the division even before the chancellor told MPs in December that he expected to see "further significant reductions" in the operation that expanded rapidly following the ill-fated takeover of the Dutch bank ABN Amro in the autumn of 2007...Read more here--: RBS likely to axe 5,000 jobs in investment bank review | Business | The Guardian