Britain's state-rescued Royal Bank of Scotland plunged into a near STG9.0 billion ($A16.82 billion) loss last year on vast charges for litigation and the creation of a 'bad bank' division.
The lender, which is 81-per cent owned by the government after a huge bailout during the global financial crisis, added it would seek to slash its cost base by another 5.3 billion in the coming years and warned of more "inevitable" job cuts.
Losses after taxation ballooned to STG8.995 billion in 2013.
That compared with a loss of STG6.055 billion in 2012, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) said in a results statement.
The loss was sparked by a STG3.8-billion provision for a string of scandal-related charges and a 4.8-billion hit for the creation of an internal "bad bank" unit called RBS Capital Resolution (RCR).
Pre-tax losses jumped to STG8.24 billion last year, from STG5.28 billion last time around. Revenues fell 12 per cent to STG19.44 billion.
Despite the vast loss, the bank's staff bonus pool stood at STG576 million last year, which was 15 per cent lower than in 2012.
Edinburgh-based RBS added it would cut costs by STG1.0 billion this year, and would slash its total cost base from STG13.3 billion in 2013 to STG8.0 billion in the medium term.
