NatWest CEO Paul Thwaite has said acquisitions are “not off the table” moving forward for the bank formerly called Royal Bank of Scotland.

Thwaite was asked at the Goldman Sachs European Financials Conference if NatWest would consider acquisitions.

Thwaite replied: “It has been interesting but not a surprise to me to see some of the activity in the UK market …

“I personally thought there was a degree of inevitability about it …

“I think there will be more consolidation … over the course of the next couple of years …

“From a NatWest perspective, we do review opportunities, so it (an acquisition) is not off the table …

“… it needs to offer compelling shareholder value and compelling strategic rationale …

“… we’ll be very disciplined, we’ll be very focused …

“There’s a lot of opportunities out there … it’s my job to be vigilant around that and see where I think there might be opportunities to take the firm forward.”