Scottish Business Briefing - Wednesday October 8, 2008

Published Date: 08 October 2008 WELCOME to scotsman.com's Scottish Business Briefing. Every morning we bring you a comprehensive round-up of all news affecting business in Scotland today. BANKING & INSURANCE Giants lose £13.2bn in shares rout and at last they will act A MASSIVE rescue plan to bolster UK banks was to be announced by the government this morning, after £13.2 billion was wiped from Scot land's leading financial institutions . The bail-out of up to £50 billion, revealed in The Scotsman yesterday, could effectively mean the part-nationalisation of major high-street names, including the Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS. Yesterday, the value of RBS and HBOS plunged – by 39 per cent and 41.5 per cent respectively – on a dramatic and devastating day for the Scottish giants. At one point, worst-hit RBS was... [read full story]