After the Bank of England warned UK banks have a £25bn capital shortfall but did not identify them, Royal Bank of Scotland said its position was strong.
It said, "RBS has a strong capital position...we will continue to work with our regulators to ensure RBS remains at the forefront of international capital standards."
The statement has done little to help its shares however, which are down 9.7p at 276.3p, a more than 3% decline. Marc Kimsey, senior trader at Accendo Markets, said:
RBS has spooked the trading floor with its unprovoked statement following the Bank announcement regarding capital shortfalls this morning. The woolly statement declaring a "strong capital position" without declaring specific capital amounts or percentages does little to convince us. In fact the bank may have been better off saying nothing. Fingers remain hovering over the sell button.
Overall the FTSE 100 has been sliding all morning, and is now down 43.76 points at 6355.13, not helped by an unconvincing Italian bond auction and UK GDP figures.
