³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

At the risk of sounding like I'm Twittering, I'm currently on the phone, listening to the Royal Bank of Scotland's chief executive Stephen Hester on an international press conference call.

He's answering a question from a reporter from the Wall Street Journal about the .

This is part of the openness and accountability that was not a feature of the previous regime at Gogarburn headquarters, which the new bank boss describes as the strategy for "a return to grace".

The results include startlingly good news about part of the same investment banking division that did such damage to the balance sheet last year.

It's perhaps surprising that customers have been so loyal, and new ones have been attracted, with a healthy increase in the number of insurance policies issued and in savings and current accounts opened.

But set against that is another huge write-down on those toxic assets, with reference to "an element of shutting the stable door while the horse has gone", and an even bigger write-down of loans that are turning sour in the broader economy - what he calls "the headwinds of severe recession".

Stephen Hester's very clear and sombre message is to warn the stock market against over-enthusiasm, saying the good starting quarter in the investment bank is unlikely to be sustained.

"Both 09 and 10 will be difficult years for us," he emphasises.

And sure enough, the RBS's share price has ignored him with a shot of enthusiasm, up by more than 10% so far.

It's such a huge bank that there are any number of angles to the RBS's troubles, but one particularly interesting one from the statement is in staffing and cost cutting.

Hester warned that the Bank has faced a substantial loss of talented people over recent months, particularly concerned that the UK Government has closed down the bonus prospects they used to enjoy and hope to enjoy elsewhere.

"We've lost hundreds of people in the last few months with some of these concerns foremost in their minds. That is something we combat every day. We're taking some hits on the staffing front, but they're not de-stabilising, and I hope they don't become so".

The cost-cutting target remains a whopping £2.5 billion within the three-to-five year time horizon of Hester's recovery plan.

So far, £312 million of that target has been "actioned", and it's clear from Stephen Hester's comments that the job cuts will continue.

Another interesting point: Hester strongly argues there is nothing to be learned about the future structure of banking from those that got into trouble.

Those in investment banking, retail banking and both have got into trouble, just as all three sectors have banks that have avoided trouble.

As he pointed out, the Dunfermline Building Society wasn't trying to be an investment bank - so far as we know.

And on that subject, there are to be hearings before the Scottish Affairs Select Committee, including some accountability from the Dunfermline team - so far, we don't know which members of it - for the first time since it was forced into a sale to Nationwide.