"There is a time for departure even when there's no certain place to go", American playwright Tennessee Williams once said. So it is the case for Royal Bank of Scotland's global banking and markets unit, which is set to pay the price for being caught between depressed market activity and aggressive regulation.

Over the weekend, reports emerged suggesting that RBS could halve the size of its investment bank and offload stockbroking business Hoare Govett, following a strategic review conducted by McKinsey. Internal sources today confirmed the sentiment.