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Bloomberg

Royal Bank of Scotland Group is looking to put most of its Asian corporate banking business up for sale, according to a person with knowledge of internal discussions.
Chief executive Ross McEwan will hold a series of meetings in Singapore to consider ways to scale back the lender's Asian business, said the person, who asked not to be identified.
A spokesman for RBS in London declined to comment. The lender said last month that it was shutting its Japanese trading business.
Since taking over in 2013, McEwan has been selling units and cutting jobs outside Britain as he seeks to focus on the bank's domestic market to help reverse six consecutive annual losses.
RBS took bids for its Coutts International private bank last month and raised US$3 billion in September by selling shares in its US subsidiary, Citizens Financial Group.
The bank has about 2,000 employees in the Asia-Pacific region that could be affected, said the person with knowledge of the matter.
RBS would probably keep some operations in Singapore offering clients US dollar, euro and yen fixed-income products, the person added.
The lender's corporate and institutional banking division is led in the Asia-Pacific region by Pierre Ferland, who is responsible for a 10-country network offering clients foreign exchange, interest rates, fixed income, debt capital markets and transaction services, according to the bank's website.
The 80 per cent taxpayer-owned lender is selling assets outside its home market to help boost capital as McEwan plans to return RBS to full private ownership.
The bank last year dismissed most of its team overseeing debt capital markets in central and eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa amid a review of operations outside Britain.
RBS had £27 billion of credit risk assets in the Asia-Pacific region at the end of June out of £551.6 billion of assets globally, according to the most recent data made available by the bank in quarterly earnings reports.
McEwan said in February he wanted RBS to increase its British assets from 60 per cent to 80 per cent of its global business as part of his plan to shrink in scale while boosting profitability.
The bank had £302.8 billion of British credit risk assets, or 55 per cent of the total, at the end of June. North America was the next biggest region with £101.3 billion.


RBS eyes sale of most of Asia corporate banking business, source says

RBS wants to focus to focus on the its domestic market to help reverse six consecutive annual losses. 

RBS took bids for its Coutts International private bank last month.

Business

Banking & Finance

Bank looks at shedding most of its corporate banking business in region, source says
