It was only in November that Fred Goodwin of the Royal Bank of Scotland was seen as the kind of cost cutter and operations manager that the big American banks needed. He was even viewed as a possible replacement for Chuck Prince of Citigroup.

Goodwin's current job is in doubt today.

Royal Bank of Scotland, stretched thin by the credit crunch and by the acquisition of ABN-Amro, has announced plans to raise $24 billion in capital through the sale of shares to its investors. It was just a month ago that Goodwin said that his bank, unlike many others, had no need to raise new capital.

The bank is also cutting its dividend and planning to raise as much as $8 billion through the sale of noncore assets, such as its stakes in insurance businesses. It also estimated that it would take a write-down of 5.9 billion pounds, or $12 billion.

Yves Smith on the Naked Capitalism blog says that even as bank losses and the amount of new capital seem to rise higher and higher, the $24 billion raise by  Royal Bank of Scotland "is nevertheless a stunner, hugely dilutive to existing shareholders."

Douglas McIntyre on the 24/7 Wall St. blog says that the move is a bad omen for American banks, many of whom have already significantly bolstered their capital. They may need to raise billions more.

"Subprime-mortgage failures are likely to rise this summer as more adjustable-rate mortgages reset and homeowners lose jobs due to the recession," he notes.

George Hay on Breakingviews.com says that Goodwin needs to stay if only to oversee the integration of ABN-Amro. But the bank's board needs to do a better job, he contends. "At the very least, R.B.S. should find a new senior independent director and several fresh faces on its board."