According to a Reuters report, RBS has signed a non-binding framework agreement and is now engaged in talks to sell the unit to Sanctum Wealth.
RBS is said to have around $2.5bn private-banking assets under management in India, according to Bloomberg.
The bank said in an e-mailed statement to Reuters: "This marks another step towards delivering the strategy to make RBS a stronger, simpler, more sustainable business, more aligned with the needs of our customers in the U.K. and Western Europe."
While Switzerland-based Union Bancaire Privee had said in March that it was planning to buy the overseas business of British wealth manager Coutts from RBS in an effort to concentrate on its UK retail and commercial banking, the Indian private banking business was not part of that deal.
The March sale included businesses managed from Switzerland, Monaco, the Middle East, Singapore and Hong Kong.
RBS will become the latest in a series of banks including UBS Group, Morgan Stanley and Macquarie Group to leave India’s private-wealth market in the past two years.
Image: RBS has signed a non-binding framework agreement for the sale of its Indian private banking business to Sanctum Wealth Management. Photo: courtesy of scottchan/freedigitalphotos.net.
