RBS to cut 3,000 jobs worldwide

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to cut about 3,000 jobs in the next few weeks, the BBC has learned.

The positions will go in its global banking and markets workforce, spanning more than 50 countries, but is likely to include City of London posts.

It is understood the bank's High Street operations, and those of subsidiary NatWest will be unaffected.

RBS, which predicts a first annual loss this year, hopes to raise £20bn as part of the government's bail-out plan.

It employs around 170,000 people, of which around 100,000 are in the UK.

"RBS is paying the price for lending far too much in the good times," says BBC business reporter Nick Cosgrove.

"It had too much exposure to the sub-prime market in the United States and it overpaid for the giant Dutch bank ABN Amro at the height of the boom."

Sub-prime loans are those to people with poor credit records. An RBS consortium paid 71bn euros ($91bn; £61bn) for ABN Amro in October 2007