Edinburgh-headquartered NatWest-RBS has withdrawn its markets securities business from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s list of primary bond dealers as the firm pulls back from US and mainland European government bond markets, Bloomberg reported.

The move is effective Friday, according to a statement from the New York Fed.

The news confirms a Bloomberg News report last week that NatWest-RBS was planning to stop primary dealing in those markets, though it would remain a primary dealer in the UK government bond market.

Last week, a spokesperson for NatWest-RBS said the Edinburgh-based bank was “simplifying” its markets business structure and “proposing to withdraw” from primary dealership programs in the US and Europe.

Bloomberg said NatWest Group’s markets unit has shrunk since its heyday, when the bank was named Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc. In 2020, the group slashed the markets business in favor of growing in UK retail and commercial lending.

The bank’s move is unrelated to recent volatility in the bond markets.