UK banks: contrasting fortunes

george hay Nine months is a long time in UK banking. When Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group signed up for state insurance on a combined £585bn of their suspect loans in February, each was assumed to be a basket case. Now the full details of the insurance scheme and enforced state aid disposals are public, it’s clear that RBS is in the worse shape. Both banks are trying to wriggle out of the state’s embrace, but RBS hasn’t got very far. Lloyds, in contrast, is well on the way to in...