The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Edinburgh, UK, is the largest banking group in Scotland and the fifth largest in the world by market capitalisation. As on January 31, the bank's assets stood at $1,705.680 billion.
The bank originated from the Equivalent Society set up by investors in the bankrupt Company of Scotland. The Society was formed to protect the compensation the investors received as part of the arrangements of the 1707 Acts of Union.
Controversy has dogged the bank off and on. It has been infamously dubbed 'Oil Bank of Scotland' by environmentalists as it provides finance for the fossil fuel industry, thereby causing global warming.
In 2001, the bank received threats for having financed animal testing company Huntingdon Life Sciences. As a direct fallout of this, RBS withdrew the company's overdraft facility.
Image: A Royal Bank of Scotland branch logo is pictured in central London.| Photograph: Shaun Curry/AFP/Getty Images
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