Timeline: RBS fined $615 million over Libor rigging
Britain's Royal Bank of Scotland will pay U.S. and British authorities $615 million and plead guilty to wire fraud in Japan to settle allegations it manipulated global benchmark interest rates.
RBS grew from a Scottish bank to become one of the world's largest after a series of takeovers, including the purchase of NatWest in 2000, but it was subsequently hit by a series of problems. Here is a look at its troubles since 2007:
April 3, 2007 - RBS leads a consortium along with Fortis and Spain's Santander bidding for Dutch bank ABN AMRO. In October, the consortium wins a bidding war against Barclays for ABN AMRO with a 70-billion-euro offer, making it the biggest banking takeover in history. The takeover comes just before markets slump as the subprime credit crisis takes hold.
April 2008 - RBS announces a record 12-billion-pound rights issue to cover a potential 5.9-billion-pound writedown on the value of its toxic assets.
October/November 2008 - Britain is forced to pump 20 billion pounds into the lender to shore up its capital position. Stephen Hester is named to replace Fred Goodwin as CEO. The government injects a further 25 billion pounds in January 2009, leaving it with an approximate 82 percent stake.
February 2009 - RBS reports a loss of 24.1 billion pounds for 2008, the biggest in British corporate history.
December 2010 - Goodwin and other RBS executives during the financial crisis escape punishment by the Financial Services Authority despite what the regulator describes as a "series of bad decisions" in 2007 and 2008.
December 2011 - The FSA publishes its report, begun in 2009, into RBS's near failure. The report blames RBS's "poor management decisions" and flaws within the FSA itself. It also recommends tougher rules to ensure that in future banking executives can face "personal consequences" if a bank fails.
August 2012 - A joint New York-Connecticut investigation of the Libor benchmark interest rate sends subpoenas to RBS and several other banks. The subpoenas seek communication between executives related to possible collusion that may have played a role in alleged manipulation of the Libor rate.
September 2012 - RBS increases its target for job cuts at its investment banking business to 3,800 by the end of 2013. Hester has already axed 34,000 jobs since arriving at RBS.
February 2013 - RBS is fined $615 million for its role in the manipulation of the London interbank offered rate (Libor) and other global benchmark rates. The rigging continued even after traders learned that Libor submissions were being probed. It is the third bank to be fined for Libor rigging, after Barclays and UBS.
(Reporting by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit
Editing by Mark Potter)