RBS 2010 Annual Report Download - page 54

Certain sections in this document contain ‘forward-looking statements’ as
that term is defined in the United States Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, such as statements that include the words ‘expect’,
‘estimate’, ‘project’, ‘anticipate’, ‘believes’, ‘should’, ‘intend’, ‘plan’, ‘could’,
‘probability’, ‘risk’, ‘Value-at-Risk (VaR)’, ‘target’, ‘goal’, ‘objective’, ‘will’,
‘endeavour’, ‘outlook’, ‘optimistic’, ‘prospects’ and similar expressions or
variations on such expressions.
In particular, this document includes forward-looking statements relating,
but not limited to: the Group’s restructuring plans, capitalisation,
portfolios, net interest margin, capital ratios, liquidity, risk-weighted
assets, return on equity (ROE), cost:income ratios, leverage and
loan:deposit ratios, funding and risk profile; the Group’s future financial
performance; the level and extent of future impairments and write-downs;
the protection provided by the Asset Protection Scheme (APS); and the
Group’s potential exposures to various types of market risks, such as
interest rate risk, foreign exchange rate risk and commodity and equity
price risk. These statements are based on current plans, estimates and
projections, and are subject to inherent risks, uncertainties and other
factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from the future
results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. For
example, certain of the market risk disclosures are dependent on choices
about key model characteristics and assumptions and are subject to
various limitations. By their nature, certain of the market risk disclosures
are only estimates and, as a result, actual future gains and losses could
differ materially from those that have been estimated.
Other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those estimated by the forward-looking statements contained in this
document include, but are not limited to: the full nationalisation of the
Group or other resolution procedures under the Banking Act 2009; the
global economy and instability in the global financial markets, and their
impact on the financial industry in general and on the Group in particular;
the financial stability of other financial institutions, and the Group’s
counterparties and borrowers; the ability to complete restructurings on a
timely basis, or at all, including the disposal of certain Non-Core assets
and assets and businesses required as part of the EC State Aid
restructuring plan; organisational restructuring; the ability to access
sufficient funding to meet liquidity needs; the extent of future write-downs
and impairment charges caused by depressed asset valuations; the
inability to hedge certain risks economically; costs or exposures borne by
the Group arising out of the origination or sale of mortgages or mortgage-
backed securities in the United States; the value and effectiveness of any
credit protection purchased by the Group; unanticipated turbulence in
interest rates, yield curves, foreign currency exchange rates, credit
spreads, bond prices, commodity prices, equity prices and basis, volatility
and correlation risks; changes in the credit ratings of the Group;
ineffective management of capital or changes to capital adequacy or
liquidity requirements; changes to the valuation of financial instruments
recorded at fair value; competition and consolidation in the banking
sector; HM Treasury exercising influence over the operations of the
Group; the ability of the Group to attract or retain senior management or
other key employees; regulatory or legal changes (including those
requiring any restructuring of the Group’s operations) in the United
Kingdom, the United States and other countries in which the Group
operates or a change in United Kingdom Government policy; changes to
regulatory requirements relating to capital and liquidity; changes to the
monetary and interest rate policies of the Bank of England, the Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System and other G7 central banks;
impairments of goodwill; pension fund shortfalls; litigation and regulatory
investigations; general operational risks; insurance claims; reputational
risk; general geopolitical and economic conditions in the UK and in other
countries in which the Group has significant business activities or
investments, including the United States; the ability to achieve revenue
benefits and cost savings from the integration of certain of RBS Holdings
N.V.’s (formerly ABN AMRO Holding N.V.) businesses and assets;
changes in UK and foreign laws, regulations, accounting standards and
taxes, including changes in regulatory capital regulations and liquidity
requirements; the participation of the Group in the APS and the effect of
the APS on the Group’s financial and capital position; the ability to access
the contingent capital arrangements with HM Treasury; the conversion of
the B shares in accordance with their terms; limitations on, or additional
requirements imposed on, the Group’s activities as a result of HM
Treasury’s investment in the Group; and the success of the Group in
managing the risks involved in the foregoing.
The forward-looking statements contained in this document speak only as
of the date of this announcement, and the Group does not undertake to
update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances
after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
The information, statements and opinions contained in this document do
not constitute a public offer under any applicable legislation or an offer to
sell or solicitation of any offer to buy any securities or financial
instruments or any advice or recommendation with respect to such
securities or other financial instruments.
RBS Group 201052
Forward-looking statements