Royal Bank of Scotland said it was cutting 2,300 staff, representing about 2% of RBS’s UK workforce of 106,000, on a day when its former top executives faced a grilling by MPs over its near-collapse.

The UK bank, which is 70% owned by the taxpayer after a government bail-out last year, is slashing the jobs in areas such as back office processing.

The bank has already cut about 10,000 jobs in its investment banking divisions in the past year and is now slashing costs at its retail bank.

The jobs are being pared across the UK and reflect the lower levels of business due to the recession. RBS is expected to report losses of up to £28bn in 2008 – one of the biggest losses in corporate history – when it announces results this month.

Financial Times