RBS may consider sale of Irish Ulster Bank as early as next year

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will reportedly reconsider whether to sell its Irish Ulster Bank division as early as next year. The review will look at options for the Irish consumer business which, last year, was separated into a stand alone operation from Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland which was integrated into RBS in the UK. However, a spokeswoman for RBS said the strategy for Ulster Bank "remains unchanged".

Britain's RBS is to reconsider a sale of Ulster Bank in the Republic.

The UK taxpayer controlled bank will revisit the issue of whether to sell the Irish unit as early as next year, according to a report by Bloomberg, quoting an unnamed source.

The review will examine the Irish consumer business, which has been split out from Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland this year.

However, a spokeswoman for RBS said the strategy for Ulster Bank “remains unchanged.”

In 2014 RBS ditched plans to sell all or part of Ulster Bank following a lengthy review. But a decision was taken to integrate its Northern Ireland business into RBS in the UK, and operate the bank's division in the Republic on a stand alone basis.

RBS had decided to keep Ulster Bank partly because of the complexity and cost of separating the business from the rest of the group, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

McEwan said in September that Ulster Bank still has “unacceptably high” costs but is showing “positive signs.”

“We decided following an extensive strategic review last year that” Ulster Bank “was a core part of RBS and we are now pushing ahead with our strategy to create a strong challenger bank focused on our customers” in the Republic of Ireland, Harper said.