The Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, the two banks majority owned by the UK Government, are together liable for over 10% of the total pension deficit of companies in the FTSE 350, as new research predicts RBS alone would need to commit three years of earnings to return to a fully-funded status.

The two groups have a combined pensions shortfall of £18.5bn (€20.5bn), according to figures from actuarial firm Hymans Robertson's FTSE 350 penSAFE* survey, which shows the total deficit across all companies in the index rose from £163bn to £182bn in the first quarter of 2009.