Monday, 9 February 2009
RBS puts Singapore expansion on hold
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is reviewing its expansion plans here, including an earlier decision to add to the branch network it acquired last year after buying over ABN Amro Bank. That move had come in for criticism and caused the bank to be partly nationalised.
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RBS puts Singapore expansion on hold
By SIOW LI SEN
6 February 2009
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is reviewing its expansion plans here, including an earlier decision to add to the branch network it acquired last year after buying over ABN Amro Bank. That move had come in for criticism and caused the bank to be partly nationalised.
On hold will be plans to add two branches and hire 25 per cent more front-line staff this year as the 70 per cent British government-owned RBS reviews its plans.
Last September, after RBS received its qualifying full bank licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore to enter the retail market here, the bank said it would open two branches this year to augment the five it already has. It also said it would hire 25 per cent more front-line staff.
‘We will be reviewing our expansion plans to take into account current economic conditions,’ said Ajay Mathur, RBS head of retail banking.
‘Our focus remains, as always, on offering highly personalised services and tailored wealth management solutions to the mass affluent group of clients, and optimising our resources to expand in areas where we have a clear competitive advantage,’ he added.
RBS only accepts clients who have a minimum of $200,000.
Its other retail offerings here are credit cards and an unsecured credit facility which it distributes through SingPost’s 62 outlets.
Mr. Mathur also had a word of assurance for the bank’s clients. ‘There is absolutely no reason to be worried about the security of deposits placed with the bank. Our clients can take comfort from the fact that the British government is standing behind the balance sheet of the RBS Group,’ he said.
The bank added that it had not noticed any unusual withdrawals.
RBS chief executive Stephen Hester has said that the group will remain a global bank but there is continuous speculation over which parts of the business will be sold under a group strategic review begun last October.
Last month, RBS sold off its 4.26 per cent stake in the Bank of China for £1.6 billion (S$3.49 billion).
In addition, RBS has to comply with the UK government to refocus on domestic lending after it accepted taxpayers’ money.
According to a Financial Times report last week, the UK Treasury has insisted that RBS increase its lending to British households and companies by £6 billion in return for the right to convert £5 billion of preference shares into ordinary equity.
Besides retail banking, RBS Singapore also provides corporate banking services including investment, transaction, commercial and retail banking as well as private banking under the RBS Coutts brand.
Last year it led syndicated loans worth almost $10 billion for the two integrated resorts.
Singapore is the global hub for RBS’s group operations and control and RBS Coutts. It is also the regional hub for global transaction services, manufacturing and corporate credit risk management. Singapore is also the main regional office for RBS Sempra Commodities Joint Venture in the Asia-Pacific region.
Established in Singapore in 1985 RBS now employs more than 2,000 people here.
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