RBS calls off sale of India banking business

Royal Bank of Scotland has called off the sale of its India banking business and will now consider options including the winding down of the business or selling individual parts of the operation, according to Reuters.

The India operations of the RBS banking business include corporate and institutional banking and trade finance.

“After examining a number of potential sale options for our banking business in India, we have concluded that it is not feasible to sell the business in its entirety,” RBS said in a statement.

“We will now look at other options which may include a wind down or sale of individual parts of the business, and we will communicate to clients accordingly.”

RBS said, though, that its back-office outsourcing unit will continue operations in India.

DBS Group Holdings of Singapore and South African bank FirstRand are understood to have been in separate talks to buy the RBS India banking business.

The India sale had been a part of RBS’s plan to shrink its worldwide banking operations to focus on lending in Britain.

RBS said it would give its more than 500 staff in the India banking business “clarity on their position” over the next few weeks.

According to Reuters data, RBS’s balance sheet exposure in India nearly halved in 2014 to £2 billion pounds after a decline in corporate lending, particularly in the oil and gas and mining and metals sectors.