Part-nationalised lender Royal Bank of Scotland said it aims to stick with its recovery plan despite potential large-scale disposals ordered by European Union anti-trust regulators.
“It remains RBS’s goal that any required divestments do not threaten its recovery plan which is already under way,” the bank said in a brief statement on Monday.
RBS is expected to be told this week to sell its prized insurance arm — including top brands Direct Line and Churchill — to win EU approval for state aid it has received since coming close to collapse last year.
RBS said talks between EU officials and the British government were in their final stages, and acknowledged that the final deal would include “some divestments not initially contemplated.”
RBS also said it was close to a deal with the government over its participation in a costly taxpayer-funded scheme to insure it against credit losses.
A final deal on both the insurance scheme and the EU state aid investigation will be announced no later than Friday, RBS said.
