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RBS bank must keep branches open, demands Scottish Labour

SCOTTISH Labour demanded today that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) drop proposals for branch closures after it posted its first profit since a taxpayer bailout a decade ago.

The publicly owned bank recorded a £752 million profit for 2017, even after taking into account the £1.29 billion set aside to cover claims that it had mis-sold payment protection insurance and mortgage-backed securities before the financial crisis.

RBS chief executive Ross McEwan, who was paid a whopping £3.49m last year, warned that the bank faced a potentially multibillion-dollar settlement with the US Department of Justice over those securities sales.

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