RBS in court for battle with shareholders over 2008 rights issue

Royal Bank of Scotland (LSE: RBS.L - news) (RBS) is set to defend a £700m lawsuit that is expected to see former boss Fred Goodwin give his first account of the bank's near-collapse.

The civil action at the High Court is being brought by 9,000 individuals and 18 institutional investors who claim that RBS, under Mr Goodwin's leadership in 2008, misled them about the state of the bank's finances when it raised billions of pounds from them just months before its taxpayer rescue.

The bank has previously said that 87% of total claims relating to the £12bn rights issue, involving four action groups, have been settled out of court - with RBS not admitting liability.

The £700m action on Monday, being brought by members of the RBoS Shareholder Action Group, is expected to see Mr Goodwin and other former senior executives take to the witness box.

Mr Goodwin, who was stripped of his knighthood after the £45.5bn bailout, has never spoken publicly about the events leading up to the rescue.

He is due to take the stand on the day of the General Election, 8 June, with the case slated to run for 14 weeks.

The Government continues to own more than 70% of the bank and there is little prospect of it ever recouping the money it paid to avert its outright collapse.

It announced last month its first quarterly profit since 2015 as it continues to be weighed down by legacy issues.