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Though a statement issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland on Tuesday said that figures were a worst case scenario, and actual losses could be “significantly lower”, it is feared that around 9,000 jobs will be shed by the bank, over half of which are situated in the U.K.

The British bank, which is part-nationalized, has been the subject of controversy of late, with Sir Fred Goodwin’s infamous £16 million pension - one of many high-level bankers claiming bonuses, including the ever-developing AIG scandal. In announcing the possibility of the job losses, RBS Chief Executive Stephen Hester also stressed that compulsory redundancies were an absolute last resort, should other initiatives to return RBS to sound financial health fail.

The move has been dubbed a cost-cutting measure to try and boost the British lender out of the current recession, an initiative which chiefs have said aims to eliminate $3.73 billion in costs over the next three years. The potential 9,000 job losses discussed today are in addition to 2,700 previously announced job cuts thus far this year, though natural turnover and redeployment will reportedly reduce the effect to a minimum, with 650 new job opportunities already identified.

With unemployment welfare claims already at a record high in the U.K., trade unions are outraged by this, the latest revelation in the financial crisis. The tenure of Fred Goodwin was largely responsible for the beginning of nationalization of the bank, which needed government financial assistance. Where the lender was 58 percent state-owned before today, the government’s stake in the company rose to 70 percent today, rapidly approaching total nationalization.

Shares in the bank were 10.4 percent lower at 26.7 pence by 1500 GMT, while the FTSE 100 share index was down 1.3 percent. RBS currently commands a workforce of 170,000 worldwide, with around two-thirds situated in the U.K.

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