ABN AMRO

During the SARS outbreak, which began in China, airline traffic in Asia halved, and airline stocks tumbled 25 percent or more.

The chairman of Fortis is optimistic investors will back a deal to sell assets to France's BNP Paribas, even without the support of Fortis's largest shareholder, he said on Monday.

Royal Bank of Scotland is in talks with three banks interested in buying its Asian retail and commercial banking assets as it pulls back to core markets, a person familiar with the matter said.

Two of Pakistan's biggest banks, Habib Bank Ltd (HBL) and MCB Bank (MCB), are competing to bid for Royal Bank of Scotland's local assets, which the market values at $266 million.

BNP Paribas will abandon its attempts to buy the assets of Fortis if shareholders of the stricken Dutch-Belgian group reject the latest revised deal this month, BNP's chief executive said.

A Belgian court ruled on Friday that all Fortis investors were eligible to vote on its break-up, boosting French bank BNP Paribas' chances of buying Fortis assets.

A pending asset sale and a clean bill of health from its financial regulator has calmed fears Barclays will need to raise cash, and backed up the bank's pledge to emerge as a victor from the financial crisis.

Royal Bank of Scotland will cut more jobs, Chairman Philip Hampton warned on Friday as he called for an end to the public flogging of the state-rescued bank over its past mistakes.

Royal Bank of Scotland will cut more jobs, Chairman Philip Hampton warned on Friday as he called for an end to public flogging of the state-rescued bank over its past mistakes.

Fortis was set on Wednesday to postpone a shareholder vote on the sale of its former banking arm to BNP Paribas, casting fresh doubt over whether it can complete the deal.

Fortis NV (FOR.BR: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it has a viable future as an insurance group on Tuesday after plunging to a 28 billion euro ($37 billion) net loss in 2008 on the state takeover of its troubled banking activities.

The Belgian state and France's BNP Paribas have reached a deal Saturday to sell financial group Fortis, the largest bank in Belgium and the Netherlands until the global financial crisis, according to the associated press reports.

Royal Bank of Scotland is retrenching to its core businesses and plans to exit up to 36 countries, but unpicking a decade of deals in the eye of a financial storm will be a long slog.

Royal Bank of Scotland said on Wednesday it plans to sell the retail and commercial banking businesses of newly-acquired ABN AMRO China, part of efforts to exit from these operations in Asia.

Royal Bank of Scotland reported the biggest loss in British history on Thursday and said the government's stake could rise as high as 95 percent after it stumped up billions to insure risky bank assets.

Royal Bank of Scotland reported the biggest loss in British history on Thursday and said the government's stake could rise as high as 95 percent after it stumped up billions to insure the bank's risky assets. RBS also unveiled plans to cut 2.5 billion pounds ($3.56 billion) in costs as part of a restructuring plan which will see it exit or reduce its presence in 36 of the 54 countries it operate...

Royal Bank of Scotland is to announce a restructuring this week to create a non-core division into which unwanted assets will be placed, a banking industry source said on Sunday.

Royal Bank of Scotland Plc is set to unveil up to 20,000 job losses next week as part of tough cost-cutting targets, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.

Royal Bank of Scotland said Monday it expects its losses for last year could grow to 28 billion pounds or $41.3 billion, the biggest loss registered in U.K.'s corporate history.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) said on Wednesday that its results for the first six months of the year should be satisfactory and in line with previous guidance.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has cut 200 jobs this week in parts of its debt and investment banking units most affected by the economic slowdown.