In a statement that was circulated to staff, it said the review RBS undertook in February of its high net worth business “confirmed that we should restructure our Coutts International business to align it better with RBS’s strategic focus on the UK”.
A key consideration would be to continue delivering a wealth management service to its UK resident non-domiciled clients with "suitable offshore booking capability to support".
“We will now work with local management teams to explore options including merging the remainder of the current Coutts International business, considering joint ventures or a sale, thereby reducing RBS’s footprint internationally. We will be careful to protect the interests of our customers and shareholders as we complete this work and ensure that all relevant stakeholders are kept informed and involved.”
A spokesperson from RBS said the 'Plan A' preferred option would be to sell the international arm and that the expectation was of rapid progress over the next few months under the review implementation team’s head, Alison Rose.
Coutts International represents 41% of the customer assets and liabilities RBS gets from its high net worth clients, and 35% of revenues.
The statement also said that solid foundations had been built by the international business over the last three years and a major restructuring of the business had already been achieved.
However it added that it faced “a challenging path to deliver our strategic plan of 15%+ ROE given the dynamics of compressed margins and the increasing need for scale in international businesses”.
