The latest decision will enable the bank to refocus on lending in Britain and cut down its capital, which will in turn help it to return some money to shareholders, Reuters reported.
The bank reported a loss of £3.5bn in 2014 due to a writedown on the value of its business citizens in the US.
The British government holds 79% in RBS. The bank has been facing several investigations into past misconduct.
RBS finance director Ewen Stevenson told reporters that around 50% of the jobs at the bank’s trading business in the US will be cut. This unit employs about 2,000 staff.
In a separate announcement, the bank has signed an agreement with Mizuho Financial Group’s wholly-owned subsidiary Mizuho Bank for the sale of a portfolio of US and Canadian loan commitments.
The portfolio being sold to Mizuho comprises $36.5bn of loan commitments, including $3.2bn of drawn assets, as of 31 December 2014.
As part of the transaction, the parties will continue to explore the transfer of certain associated derivatives.
RBS CEO Ross McEwan said: "Today’s agreement with Mizuho marks a further step towards delivering the strategy we set out in 2014 for our Corporate and Institutional Banking business.
"The agreement allows for continuity of service for our North American clients associated with this transaction and enables RBS to further focus on the needs of our target customer base."
According to RBS, the transaction is expected to complete before the end of second quarter of 2015.
Image: The Royal Bank of Scotland head office in Istanbul. Photo: courtesy of Reise Reise
