RBS to pick up the £1m tab on 'good/bad' bank review

Investment bank NM Rothschild has been set the dubious task of deciding whether RBS should be split into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ banks, rather than being sold off as a whole.

The bank was appointed yesterday, along with law firm Slaughter & May, yesterday.

George Osborne said last month that the government would examine its options on sale of the bank, which at the moment is 81% owned by the taxpayer. RBS’ future is a topic everyone – from freshly retired Bank of England governor Mervyn King to the Archbishop of Canterbury – has an opinion on, so reaching a conclusion won’t be easy.

Rothschild is to be handsomely rewarded, though: it’s netting £850,000 from the exercise. Apparently, the entire thing will cost £1m – which will be paid for by RBS. Seems a lot – but given that it ‘found’ £20bn it didn’t know it had yesterday, writing that particular cheque shouldn’t be too much of a stretch…