Standard Chartered in talks to buy RBS's China, India assets

Jul. 2, 2009 (China Knowledge) - Standard Chartered<2888> is in negotiations with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to acquire the latter's assets in China and India, said a source with direct knowledge of the matter, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

RBS, which is 70% held by the British government, is trying to dispose of its retail and commercial banking divisions in Asia. It plans to sell the entire business to one buyer for at least US$2 billion.

The Asian assets for sale include 13 branches in mainland China, 28 in India, 20 in Indonesia and 17 in Taiwan.

The three main bidders for the Asian assets are ANZ, the fourth largest bank in Australia, HSBC Holdings<0005><HBC> and Standard Chartered.

ANZ Chief Executive Mike Smith said last month that the lender is not interested in acquiring the China operations of RBS unless retail banking licenses are included, adding that assets in China, Indochina and Southeast Asia would be a perfect fit under the right circumstances, according to an earlier report from China Knowledge.