RBS says it will sell Asian assets to ANZ

LONDON: Britain's state-controlled Royal Bank of Scotland said on Tuesday that it will sell part of its Asian operations to Australia and New Zealand Banking Group for 418 million dollars (294 million euros).

"RBS today announces that it has entered into a sale agreement with ANZ Group to sell its Retail and Commercial Banking operations in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Indonesia and the onshore Global Banking and Markets (GBM) and Global Transaction Services operations in the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan," the bank said in a statement.

RBS, which the British government bailed out last year amid the collapse of the global banking sector, is now 70-percent owned by the state.

News of the divestment comes ahead of the group's first-half results that are slated for release on Friday.

RBS said completion of the sale was expected "within an 8-13 month period, depending on jurisdiction."

The embattled group added that it was in "advanced" talks over the sale of its remaining Asian assets.

"RBS remains in advanced discussions with bidders for the remaining assets it has decided to sell in Asia and will make further announcements, as appropriate, in due course," it said, without revealing the bidders' names.

An RBS spokesman declined to comment on reports that British-based emerging markets bank Standard Chartered was seeking to buy the assets.