Royal Bank of Scotland Group provides banking and insurance services primarily in the UK. After acquiring part of ABN Amro, RBS only survived the financial crisis due to GBP 25.5bn state aid (it is now 83% state-owned). Subsequently restructuring to focus on ‘Core’ business (primarily high street and investment banking, IB) and shrink its balance sheet, RBS set up a ‘Non-Core’ Division, made up of assets earmarked for disposal. The EU also requires the sale of RBS Insurance. EU-enforced time limits are leading to some assets being sold cheaply, with the realizable value reduced by a high loan-to-deposit ratio (Q4-10: 117%). The high loan-to-deposit ratio also leaves the bank reliant on volatile wholesale funding markets or emergency liquidity measures to fund lending operations. Even as its core performance improves, a GBP 700m p.a. fee to participate in the Asset Protection Scheme until 2012 dent PBT (2009 and 2010: GBP 1,928m and 239m loss resp.). The government-set target to increase UK lending threatens loan quality, while a possible split of Retail and IB in the UK are risks.