RBS 'will stop Coutts International buyer using brand'

Royal Bank of Scotland has hired Goldman Sachs to find buyers for Coutts International, its private bank, and also tell potential buyers they will not be allowed to use the Coutts brand, according to reports.

Earlier this week, Ross McEwan, chief executive of RBS, said: “A review of our international wealth business is concluded and we will be assessing the best way of disposing of those assets.”

It has been suggested that RBS could split Coutts International into European and Asian divisions to attract buyers who are put off by the recent crackdown on tax evasion in Europe.

Coutts International employs 1,200 people and manages £24bn for wealthy clients overseas. Around 40pc of those clients are in the Asian arm, with the rest in the European part, which includes the Middle East. It made an operating profit of £68m last year.

A strategic review announced by RBS chief executive Ross McEwan in February saw Coutts, which dates back to the 17th century and counts the Queen among its customers, subsumed into RBS’s UK commercial bank in an attempt to streamline operations.

RBS believed Coutts’ overseas operations were too small to deliver appropriate returns. The bank has scaled back internationally as Mr McEwan focuses on RBS’s domestic business.

Earlier this week RBS raised $3bn from the flotation of Citizens Bank , its US arm. after it offered shares in the retail bank at $21.50. RBS is in line for a further $425m windfall, after the banks underwriting the flotation exercised an option to buy extra shares.

The extra income will be welcomed by RBS, after it was forced to lower the price from the expected $23-$25 a share, reducing the money channelled back to the bank at the IPO by approximately $500m.

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