The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc

RBS notes credit ratings action by Fitch

19 May 2015

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc ("RBS") notes the decision by the credit rating agency Fitch to:

·      Downgrade the long term rating of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc and certain of its affiliates by two notches to BBB+ from A

·      Downgrade the short term rating of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc and certain of its affiliates to F2 from F1

·      Improve its rating outlook of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc and certain of its affiliates to Stable from Negative

The rationale for downgrading these ratings is not RBS specific. Instead it relates to Fitch's review of sovereign support for banks globally. Fitch believes legislative, regulatory and policy initiatives have substantially reduced the likelihood of sovereign support for senior creditors of UK banks, in line with developments at the EU level. As a consequence, Fitch has revised RBS's "Support Rating" from '1' to '5'.

RBS welcomes Fitch's decision to improve its Viability Rating of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc and certain of its affiliates by one notch. This reflects Fitch's recognition of the significant progress RBS has made in improving its overall risk profile and capital position. This improvement offsets in part the negative impact of Fitch removing sovereign support, as noted above.

Table 1, Fitch updated credit ratings:

For further information, please contact:

RBS Investor Relations 

Matthew Richardson

Head of Debt Investor Relations

+44 (0) 20 7678 1800