Coutts says rebranding is not part of RBS sale plan

RBS COUTTS, the international division of the “Queen’s bank”, will today be known simply as Coutts in an effort to simplify and capitalise on the cachet of the 300-year-old brand.

The private bank denied that the move meant its parent company, Royal Bank of Scotland, was preparing its wealth management business for a sale, or that’s the RBS brand was tainted in international markets after the bank became majority owned by the state following the banking crisis.

RBS Coutts operates in over 80 countries, with Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai as major hubs.

Rory Tapner, the chief executive of RBS Wealth, aims to double the size of the wealth business in five years’ time to have over £160 billion in total client assets, including current accounts.

At the half year, RBS Wealth had £34bn in assets under management but said it managed £88bn in total client assets.

The chief executive of Coutts in the UK, who also oversees Adam & Co in Edinburgh, is Mike Morley, while the head of the RBS Coutts business is Alexander Classen, who joined RBS from Morgan Stanley International in May.

A spokesman said that both will keep their jobs. “People will continue to do what they are doing,” he said.

Before the Zurich-headquartered brand was renamed RBS Coutts in 2008, it had been known as Coutts Bank von Enrst, after RBS acquired the small Swiss German Bank von Ernst in 2003. RBS acquired Coutts when it bought NatWest in 2000.