The King’s bank is pulling nearly £2bn out of the London stock market in the latest hammer blow to the beleaguered exchange. Coutts, which banks the Royal family and operates an ATM in Buckingham Palace, has announced plans to move away from UK stocks and instead invest its money abroad. The changes will see the amount it invests in UK equities drop from 33pc of assets to just 2pc, meaning Coutts will sell £1.96bn of British stocks and plough the money into other regions. Coutts said the changes would help it “achieve the best returns for our clients in the most attractive markets”. The decision by one of Britain’s most iconic banks to shun the London Stock Exchange is yet another blow for the troubled market. London has been hit by a dearth of listings and a string of exits in recent months, as companies are taken over or opt to move to healthier exchanges in the US or Europe. The London Stock Exchange is currently shrinking at its fastest pace in history, Goldman Sachs said last week. Charles Hall, an analyst at stockbroker Peel Hunt, said Coutts’ decision should be a “call to arms” for the Government to shake-up...