Trading in British banking giants Barclays and RBS was temporarily halted yesterday after their share prices plunged more than 10 per cent on the London Stock Exchange.

Trading in Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and Legal & General was briefly halted yesterday to prevent their shares falling further in the aftermath of the UK's decision to leave the European Union.

By mid-morning, Barclays and RBS had fallen by more than 10 per cent, activating the London Stock Exchange's automatic circuit breakers that stop electronic trading on stocks when they fall more than 8 per cent from their opening price. Trading resumed after around five minutes.

At 10.45am in London, shares in Barclays and RBS were down 12.2 per cent and 15 per cent respectively. Shares in L&G, which provides services including investment management, were down 9 per cent. The FTSE 100 Index, meanwhile, was down by around 1.3 per cent, before falling to 2 per cent at 12:30pm.

Evidently, UK chancellor George Osborne failed to reassure investors when he issued a statement before the UK stock market opened yesterday. In it, he said the UK was ready to face the future "from a position of strength", adding that it was "perfectly sensible to wait for a new prime minister" before making any "adjustment" in the economy.

Amid a host of other reactions from banks to the historic referendum result, Barclays' chief executive, Jes Staley, said on Friday: “We have been here for them [clients] through equally profound changes before. And no matter what has been laid before us, we have been here to help them achieve their ambitions. That does not change today. And through the uncertainty of the months ahead, be in no doubt that we are ready to do whatever it takes to uphold that promise.”

RBS, which is majority-owned by the UK government, said on Friday: “We would like to reassure all our customers that there will be no immediate impact on their everyday banking services.  We are operating business as usual and have no current plans to change where we operate or how we operate in response to the referendum result.”