RBS has confirmed that it is to sell its retail and commercial assets in Singapore, but has re-affirmed its commitment to RBS Coutts, the Zurich-based international arm of its private banking operation with an HQ in Singapore.

On a visit to Singapore, Sir Philip Hampton, RBS chairman said that around 660 jobs in Singapore could be transferred to a new owner as part of the sale when the assets acquired during the consortium takeover of ABN Amro last year, including its credit card business and SME servicing unit as well as its preferred banking unit, are sold.

Media reports in Singapore that the wealth management business is to be amongst those sold was confirmed by WealthBriefing to refer to the ABN Amro’s mass affluent client business, formerly known as the Van Gogh Preferred Banking offering.

In an exclusive interview with WealthBriefing, Hanspeter Brunner, chief executive of RBS Coutts, the bank’s international offering said that for his unit it was very much “business as normal”.

“It’s sad to see members of the family leave, but it is the right strategic decision,” he said. “RBS Coutts is a Swiss private bank with a separate identity and as such the synergies were very limited.”

“There were no links between RBS Coutts and the wealth management offering that is to be sold as it is a purely affluent business. Although the potential migration of clients to RBS Coutts was potentially an opportunity, there were really very few clients for whom this was a reality.”

Mr Brunner told WealthBriefing that RBS Coutts is growing its client base sufficiently quickly without needing access to an international retail client base. The international operation has around 175 bankers in Asia and a similar number based in Switzerland, Mr Brunner said. Many of these bankers have joined in the last 12 months so there is a significant opportunity to grow capacity. The business attracted more clients during 2008 than it did in 2007 and last year its profitability held up well, according to Mr Brunner.

Although assets under management at RBS Coutts have followed market trends with a fall in the last year, the business has had a more conservative outlook than many of its competitors in the region, with fewer clients moving into more highly-leveraged products that have caused huge losses in many cases.