RBS faces Bank of England pressure to look at new asset sales RBS, which is 82pc owned by the state, is thought to be the main target of the Bank of England's plan to force Britain's biggest lenders to raise more loss-bearing capital to cope with new write-downs on assets the Bank thinks are over valued. Sir Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, said no more taxpayer money would be needed by either RBS or Lloyds Banking Group, as he suggested banks could raise fresh capital privately or through other means, such as asset sales. RBS is currently attempting to sell 316 branches after a deal to off-load them to Santander UK fell through last month after the Spanish lender withdrew, citing the long delays to the process. However, with pressure increasing for banks to build up larger loss buffers, RBS is now likely to look at further asset sales, including its US retail business Citizens, as well as the further shrinking of its investment banking arm. "He [Sir Mervyn] went somewhat further than before in acknowledging the fact that "raising capital" does not necessarily require issuing fresh equity, with disposals, business reorganisation, liability management etc all offering alternative remedies," said Ian Gordon at Investec Securities. Despite the Bank's comments, shares in RBS and other major British banks all closed up at the end of yesterday's trading session.