RBS won’t have to sell bank branches

TAXPAYER-backed Royal Bank of Scotland has wriggled out of demands to sell 300 branches to appease Brussels competition chiefs.

Last night the EU agreed the NatWest owner could spend £835m to boost its rivals instead.

RBS had been ordered to improve competition by selling its branches as a condition of its £46bn bailout at the height of the financial crisis.

But in a nine-year debacle, it failed in efforts to sell them to rivals and the idea was abandoned last year, with plans drawn up for a fund to help start-up banks instead.

The Treasury then begged Brussels to accept the proposal – and the EU has now agreed.

Yesterday, RBS announced a sum of £835m will provide cash to small players in the banking and fintech industries, and challenger banks.

RBS is still 71.5pc-owned by the Government, and is facing a multi-billion-pound fine from US investigators over toxic mortgage debt. Shares rose 0.4pc, or 1.1p, to 252.3p.