Stan Chart, ANZ in advance talks to acquire RBS' Asian assets

Global banking majors Standard Chartered and ANZ are in advance talks to acquire separate parts of troubled Royal Bank of Scotland's Asian units which include India, China and Singapore, said a media report.     

Attributing to people familiar with the situation, the Financial Times said that Standard Chartered and Australia's ANZ were in advanced talks to acquire separate parts of the Asian retail and commercial assets being sold by Royal Bank of Scotland.     

Standard Chartered is now in pole position to acquire RBS units being sold in China, India and Malaysia, while ANZ was closing in on assets in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam and Indonesia, the report said citing people familiar with the matter.     

The report noted that assets are expected to fetch around $1 billion-1.5 billion for the stricken UK lender.

"The process is progressing well but nothing is yet final," the report said quoting one person familiar with the matter.     

HSBC could also pick up some of the assets, should talks with the other banks fail to reach a successful conclusion, the report quoting people familiar with the situation said.     

RBS put the assets up for sale this year, after posting the biggest loss in British corporate history. The bank, which is 70 per cent owned by the UK government, made a loss of £24.1 billion ($35.3 billion) last year.

The report noted that RBS' regional retail banking platform vastly expanded after the 2007 acquisition of the Asian operations of ABN Amro, which had built up significant branch networks in countries such as China and India.     

RBS's Asian retail assets include 170 branches, including 28 in India and 13 in China, the report said.

The sale of the Asian assets has been complicated by RBS' decision to retain its wholesale banking footprint in key regional markets.     

However, there has been uncertainty about whether banking authorities in the eight individual markets would rubber-stamp the transfer of branch licences to the potential acquirers, some of whom already boasting large retail networks in countries such as China and India.     

The report stated that a successful conclusion of the talks would transform ANZ's footprint in the region and bolster its strategy to become a "super-regional" lender. The bank in May announced a 2.5 billion Australian dollar capital raising to fund a potential bid for RBS assets.     

RBS is being advised by Morgan Stanley, ANZ is being advised by Credit Suisse and Standard Chartered by UB, it added.