The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has refused to clarify the effect of 8,000 job losses across its business in the last twelve months on asset financier Lombard.
A statement from the bank attached to its interim results said that during the first half of 2014, the commercial banking business was "reshaped to meet the needs of its customers in the most efficient way."
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The statement said: "Complexity and costs are targeted to decline, with lower staff levels, predominantly in non-customer-facing departments, supported by focused investment aimed at making it easier for customers to do business."
RBS said over 40 experienced relationship managers had been allocated to serve commercial banking customers, with a central focus on lending, and promised all but the most complex commercial loan decisions were to be made within five days by the end of 2014.
According to RBS, two-thirds of its lending decisions are now made locally.
Despite changes in the Lombard marketing team of which Leasing Life is aware, the bank would not be broached on the effect of the job losses on the Lombard workforce.
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By GlobalDataAn RBS spokeswoman said: "The 8,000 job losses over the last 12 months announced today is a broad number and is not being broken down any further. This reduction is across the entire business as we look to simplify operations."
By Brian Cantwell
