Royal Bank of Scotland is preparing to go to the Supreme Court to block the release of a trove of documents related to a 2008 fundraising launched by its disgraced former boss, Fred Goodwin.
The taxpayer-backed lender is expected to lodge an application with Britain’s highest court before Wednesday. A High Court judge rejected RBS’s claim of legal privilege over some 150 documents earlier this month, prompting the bank to request permission to appeal.
A Supreme Court battle could cost RBS at least £100,000. The bank has already paid more than £100m in costs to defend itself from a multibillion-pound legal action. About 27,000 shareholders and institutions are battling RBS over its £12bn rights issue, launched in 2008 before the bank was bailed out by the government. Investors argue they never understood the scale of the problems at RBS. Earlier this month it agreed to pay three shareholder groups £800m to try to keep Goodwin out of court. Ross McEwan, its current chief executive, has been hoping to avoid a court case for fear of further damaging RBS’s reputation.