Royal Bank of Scotland will next week unveil thousands of job losses and launch an auction of its Asian assets as the state-controlled bank sets out plans to shrink its balance sheet after a decade of rapid growth.

Stephen Hester, RBS’s new chief executive, is expected to outline plans to withdraw from retail banking in Asia, while also setting out tough cost-cutting targets that are likely to lead to the loss of 10,000-20,000 jobs out of a total workforce of about 215,000.