British Regulator: UK Top Banks Need To Raise $42B In Capital Reserves To Cover Their Risks Under Basel III Rules; RBS Has The Biggest Hole To Fill

The British Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) said Thursday that four U.K. financial institutions need to come up with £27.1 billion ($42 billion) to shore up their capital reserves to abide by new Basel III international guidelines agreed upon by the world’s leading central banks.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (LON:RBS), which is 81 percent-owned by the British taxpayer, needs to raise a little more than half of that £27.1 billion sum. Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON:LLOY) makes up £8.6 billion of the shortfall, while Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) needs to raise £3 billion. Nationwide Building Society (LON:CEBB) makes up the rest at £400 million.

HSBC Holdings PLC (LON:HSBA), Santander UK PLC (LON:SANB) and Standard Chartered PLC (LON:STAN) didn’t have any capital shortfalls, according to the report.

The British taxpayer owns 39 percent of Lloyds. The British government forked out about £66 billion to Lloyds and RBS, according to CNN. Meanwhile, the U.K. has begun the process of unwinding itself from Lloyds and RBS. In a speech on Wednesday to business leaders in London, Chancellor George Osborne said RBS might be broken up.

Osborne also said he would adopt two recommendations posited by the British Parliamentary Commission on Banking: to treat fiscal reckless misconduct by bank officials as a crime and to cancel executive bonuses when tax money is used to rescue banks.