THE Royal Bank of Scotland has been dropped from a list of the world’s most important banks, signifying that it will no longer be required to hold extra capital in case it fails.

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) removed the state-owned lender from the list of global systemically important banks that it started publishing after the 2008 financial crisis.

The institutions included have to ensure they hold enough capital to cover possible losses in order to avoid being saved by the state.

In 2008, RBS was rescued from collapse by the UK Government with a £45.5

billion bailout. It currently owns a 62% stake, having reduced this from 70%.

RBS said: “We note this decision by the FSB which reflects our progress in building a much simpler, safer UK-focused bank.”

US-based investment bank JP Morgan Chase topped the list and remained the world’s most important bank.