RBS sells Asian-Pacific bits and pieces

2nd Apr 2012 10:07

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), the beneficiary of the biggest banking bailout out in world history, is to sell some of its Asia-Pacific businesses to fast growing Malaysian outfit CIMB.CIMB is to scoop up RBS's cash equities business in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India and Taiwan, plus the sales desks for those markets based in the US and UK.The 83% state owned bank is also flogging its Equity Capital Markets and M&A businesses in Australia and China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.CIMB will pay around £75m in a deal that RBS says will mitigate the shut-down costs it would have faced in the absence of an offer.The move comes after RBS announced in January that it was to restructure its wholesale banking operations.Shares in RBS had fallen 0.9% by 10:35am.