After several mess-ups and many insults traded, you could be forgiven for expecting egos at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to be a little bit bruised following its recent panel debacle.
Instead the bankers are said to be in a jubilant mood after achieving some of the lowest legal rates in the City. The bank may have fudged the process, but its strategy was ruthlessly sound financially.
An initial tender saw law firms offer competitive rates, only for RBS to reply with suggested rates of around 15% lower. Firms were then short-listed and asked to pitch again on price alone. Eventually the rates were pushed so low that many began to question whether the kudos of achieving a place on the panel was actually worth the pain on fees.
