The Royal Bank of Scotland has applied for a German banking license to help it retain clients in the European Union in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The move applies to all its subsidiaries, but would only affect NatWest, which trades across the bloc.
The clock is ticking for the financial services industry, with banks said to be months away from being forced to act on Brexit contingency plans that could see thousands of jobs leave the UK. The first quarter of 2018 has been dubbed the “point of no return” for banks, insurers and asset managers as the industry calls on the UK to clinch a transition period that would extend market access to the EU beyond March 2019.
The British government has begun its sell-off of shares in part-nationalized lender Royal Bank of Scotland, raising £2.1bn, a third below the price it paid. It sold a 5.4% stake at 330p a share, a 7.6p discount on Monday's closing price.
HSBC reported the sale of its affiliates in Uruguay, Colombia, Peru and Paraguay to the Colombian group Gilinski, an operation involving 400 million dollars, of which 80 million for the Montevideo assets.
Lloyds Banking Group has reported a £3.9bn (6.3bn) loss for the first nine months of 2011, mainly due to the cost of settling claims for mis-selling payment protection insurance (PPI).