RBS plans to cut 448 investment banking jobs; to move 300 jobs to India

Britain's largest government-owned bank Royal Bank of Scotland has announced plans to cut 448 investment banking jobs in the UK and move two-thirds of those to India.

Around 300 jobs will go to existing Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) operations in Gurgaon and Chennai.

London and Newcastle-under-Lyme will bear the brunt of the job cuts, along with Manchester and the layoffs will take place by the end of next year, 'The Guardian' reported this week.

"As part of RBS's drive to be a stronger, simpler and fairer bank, we have been restructuring our corporate and institutional bank, as well as reducing its size, to focus on our core customers and products," the bank said in a statement.

"As this process continues, our frontline staff need a simpler, clearer, more efficient relationship with our middle and back-office functions to better serve customers, so we're reshaping our services business accordingly," it said. Unfortunately, the changes will result in some job losses.

The bank, which is 73% owned by the British taxpayer after a bail-out during the financial crisis, had recently also announced a cut of 550 investment advisers, replacing them with an automated system.

It has been in the midst of global restructuring as it reported losses of 2 billion pounds this year.