The financial crisis of 2008 rocked the world.
Institutions collapsed. Economies tottered on the brink. In the UK the Royal Bank of Scotland fell. The Government had to step in and bail the bank out.
My guest today wrote a book called Shredded about the bank’s failure. Although triggered by the September 2008 bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, it was largely the consequence of its pursuit of scale for its own sake.
Listen to Ian’s story of how he came to write the book. He describes how RBS became a rogue institution with few qualms about “misselling” financial products pursuit of profit, a cavalier disregard for the law and a warped idea of its own financial skills and strength.
Hear about the lessons the whole financial services industry can learn from the Bank that broke Britain.
That’s all right here in episode 94 of the Marketing Protection and Finance Podcast.
Who is Ian Fraser?
Ian is a journalist and broadcaster specialising in corporate finance, financial services and economic analysis.
A contributor to the FT, Sunday Times, Sunday Herald and many other titles, Ian wrote the definitive account of the rise and fall of The Royal Bank of Scotland in his book Shredded: Inside RBS the Bank that Broke Britain.