Royal Bank of Scotland announces 500 more job cuts

Royal Bank of Scotland has said it is to cut another 500 jobs as part of its three-year restructuring plan.

The posts will go at its wealth management unit, which includes Coutts & Co and Adam & Company.

The job losses come just three weeks after the bank said it would cut 2,600 people from its payroll in insurance and retail banking.

RBS said the new cuts would be made over three years and that it would try to minimise compulsory redundancies.

The majority of wealth management employees are based at Adam's head office in Edinburgh, and Coutts' office in London.

RBS, which is 84%-owned by the taxpayer, says it is investing in new back-office technology which means it will need fewer staff.

But the Unite trade union said it did not disagreed with the move.

Unite's national officer Rob MacGregor said: "Unite does not believe that the introduction of and investment in new technology should go hand in hand with the shedding of jobs."

The wealth management division employs about 3,500 staff in the UK.

RBS has been trying to cut costs since the massive government bail-out to save it from collapse in 2007.

These latest cuts mean RBS has announced 23,100 job losses across its business worldwide since the bail-out.