Britain's RBS mulls rights issue

       Britain's Royal Bank of Scotland is considering approaching the market for extra money to avoid giving more control to the government - the second bank to mull such a move, reports said on Sunday.
       RBS, which is 70 per cent owned by taxpayers after being bailed out in the global financial crisis, is preparing to join the government's insurance scheme for toxic assets, reports said, citing unnamed sources.
       However, it is also considering a 3 billion pound to 4 billion pound (Bt164 billion to Bt219 billion) share issue to reduce the stake it would hand the government for joining its Asset protection Scheme.
       RBS chief executive Stephen Hester is still "putting out feelers" about a "modest-sized" share issue, the Financial Times reported.
       "RBS are looking to gauge investor appetite for a small, modest equity issue," a source was quoted saying.
       RBS could put 325 billion pound worth of toxic assets into the scheme, which provides guarantees for risky assets, and would have to issue 19 billion pound of non-voting shares to the government as a fee, the newspaper said.
       Raising fresh capital by issuing new shares could stop the government's share of the bank increasing from 70 per cent to a possible 84.5 per cent, the BBC said.