RBS sells another $5.6bn of US loans as it re-focuses on Britain
RBS SOLD another giant package of US and Canadian loans yesterday, with Japanese bank Mizuho snapping up the assets.
The $5.6bn (£3.7bn) of loan commitments generated a post-tax profit of $20m last year and is being sold for around $500m.
That means RBS is making a loss on the sale.
But it moves the bank closer to its longer-term objective of focusing its business almost entirely on the UK, rolling back the global empire which was built up in the boom before the financial crisis struck.
“Together with the announced sale to Mizuho in late February, approximately two thirds of our North American corporate loan portfolio and associated commitments identified for exit have now been disposed of,” the bank said in a market statement.
It comes after RBS floated its US retail bank Citizens on the stock market, raising $3bn last Autumn in the biggest bank debut since the financial crisis.