Competition concerns may force RBS to sell off Williams & Glyn's

Published on Sunday 13 September 2009 19:18

ROYAL Bank of Scotland is thought to be preparing a sale of Williams & Glyn's, the brand it wound down in the mid-1980s, to satisfy European competition concerns. It is understood RBS is considering re-naming some of its branches as Williams & Glyn's before putting the revived business up for sale.

Williams & Glyn's was a network of branches, predominantly in the north-west of England, which RBS re-branded in 1985.

However, the Edinburgh behemoth still owns the name and Williams & Glyn's continues to exist as a distinct legal entity.

Analysts suggest that the revival and sale of the brand could ease pressure on RBS from the European Commission. European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes is pushing both RBS and Lloyds Banking Group to sell off assets after they received billions of pounds in state aid last year.

As revealed by Scotland on Sunday yesterday, the Williams & Glyn's brand had attracted the interest of City banking analyst Sandy Chen, who is said to be setting up a new UK bank with Sir Peter Burt, the former Bank of Scotland chief executive who attempted to derail the takeover of HBOS by Lloyds TSB . But Chen, an analyst with Panmure Gordon, is now understood to be seeking a different name for his venture.

A spokesman for RBS yesterday declined to comment.