UK Record loss for Scottish Bank

Royal Bank of Scotland shares have plunged 67% after the bank said it was heading for a record loss.

The bank said it expects to report a deficit before write-downs of between £7bn and £8bn for 2008.

It will also write down assets, largely related to its takeover of ABN Amro in 2007, of up to £20bn in 2007.

RBS's final deficit is set to beat Vodafone's 2006 loss of £15bn, the current UK record. The bank also said jobs would go because of the downturn.

The firm's shares ended Monday trading down 23.1 pence to 11.6p.

As part of the government's package to rescue British banks announced on Monday, the Treasury said it would swap £5bn of preference shares for ordinary shares in the bank, taking its stake in RBS to nearly 70%.