Coutts to sell Latin American, Caribbean and African business to RBC Wealth Management

London

Coutts today announced the intended sale of its Latin American, Caribbean and African business to RBC Wealth Management. The business has client assets in the region of GBP 1.5 billion, representing approximately 2% of Coutts' total client assets.

The decision to exit the markets of Latin America, Caribbean and Africa follows a careful strategic review which was initiated earlier last year by Rory Tapner, CEO, Wealth division of Royal Bank of Scotland Group. As part of that review, it was determined that Coutts' growth strategy will focus on key geographies. These include the UK, Switzerland, Middle East, Russia/CIS and selected countries in Asia.

Rory Tapner said: "We have made substantial progress executing against our strategic growth plan over the last year, as evidenced by our recent financial results. Our Latin American, Caribbean and African business is solid. However, it requires further investment to reach our preferred market share and we have determined to focus our efforts on our core markets as mentioned above. In RBC Wealth Management, we have found a private wealth manager who is committed to growing their business in these markets over the long term. We have every confidence that RBC will continue to offer our clients the excellent level of service which they have come to expect."

The sale is expected to close towards the latter part of Q2 2012. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.