RBS to focus on NatWest brand in England
THE Royal Bank of Scotland brand will largely be confined to its namesake country, with the NatWest marque replacing it in England and Wales, the bank announced yesterday.
RBS said its ring-fenced bank would be called NatWest Holdings, and will comprise its core NatWest business, its private bank Coutts and its Ulster bank businesses.
By the end of 2018, RBS’s Adam & Company unit, which houses its Scottish private bank, will also be renamed Royal Bank of Scotland Plc as part of the changes, though the Adam & Co brand will remain.
The group’s corporate and institutional banking business will be held in a nonring-fenced entity called NatWest Markets, and its Channel Islands operations will sit outside the ringfence, too. NatWest will become the main customerfacing brand in England, Wales and western Europe, the bank said, while Royal Bank of Scotland, a name that dates back to 1727, will play the same role in Scotland.
Ross McEwan, the bank’s chief executive, said: “Our proposed future structure under the ring-fencing legislation and our brand strategy are key elements of the bank we are becoming.
“The future ring-fenced structure of the bank is not only designed to be in compliance with the new regulatory requirements and objectives, but will better reflect who we are as a bank and what we stand for: a bank that is focused on its customers.”
RBS, which is 73pc owned by the taxpayer as a result of the government bailout it received in 2008, is the latest bank to announce how it plans to reform to comply with the changes recommended by the Vickers Commission in 2011. These rules, designed to reduce risk for consumers, force banks to separate their retail arms from their investment and commercial arms.
Barclays expects to spend £1bn ring-fencing its retail customers from its investment banking operations.