Banks and other financial institutions are set to face a beefed up internal auditing regime under a new code for auditors unveiled today.

Outlook Clara Furse's appointment to the Financial Policy Committee of the Bank of England has taken a considerable amount of flak thanks to her previous role on the board of Fortis.

Business secretary says there is 'serious public concern' over actions of lender's leadership before £45.5bn taxpayer bailout

Royal Bank of Scotland braced for huge fine

The Treasury Select Committee has cast another very unfavourable light on the performance of Britain's financial regulator and not without good reason. There have been years of this sort of thing: institution fails, scandal erupts, mea culpa follows from the Financial Services Authority promising that lessons will be learned. Only for complacency to return when the dust has settled. In giving it a kicking, and I'm not saying it isn't deserved, the committee is tapping into a rich seam of public fury. It really isn't good enough that in having wreaked such damage on the futures of so many, nobody from Royal Bank of Scotland has faced any penalty.

Royal Bank of Scotland has confirmed the sale of its historic UK stockbroking arm Hoare Govett to the US investment bank Jefferies. The pair have been in talks for weeks over the deal, which comes as RBS's chief executive, Stephen Hester, scales back dramatically the bank's investment banking division.

Senior civil servants will meet this week to decide whether ex-Royal Bank of Scotland boss Sir Fred Goodwin should be stripped of his knighthood, David Cameron said today.

A direct criticism of Sir Fred Goodwin in the Financial Services Authority's report on the near-collapse of RBS was removed after a final draft was shown to the former banking boss's lawyers, MPs were told today.

Poor management decisions and the last Labour government's light-touch regulatory regime were key factors in the near-collapse of Royal Bank of Scotland, a long-awaited report by the City watchdog said today.

Sir Fred Goodwin's "assertive and robust" management style was flagged as a potential risk to RBS as early as 2003, the FSA said today.

Business Secretary Vince Cable today said he will continue to look into whether any Royal Bank of Scotland directors should face disqualification following today's report into the bank's failure.

The Financial Services Authority will today hold its hands up and admit serious shortcomings in the way it handled the Royal Bank of Scotland and the banking system in the run-up to the multi-billion pound taxpayer-funded bailout of the Edinburgh-based giant.