The Royal Bank of Scotland has decided to confine the RBS brand mostly to Scotland and use NatWest branch for England and Wales. The bank said the operating unit in England and Wales will be called NatWest Holdings, and will comprise its core NatWest, Coutts & Co, Ulster Bank and Ulster Bank Ireland DAC brands. Its Adam & Company unit, which houses its Scottish private bank, will be renamed Royal Bank of Scotland as part of the changes by the end of 2018. However, the Adam & Co brand will still remain. The corporate and institutional banking business will be held in a non-ring-fenced entity called NatWest Markets and its Channel Islands operations will also sit outside the ring-fence. NatWest will become the main customer-facing brand in England, Wales and Western Europe, the bank said, while Royal Bank of Scotland will play the same role in Scotland. According to Ross McEwan, chief executive, the ring-fenced structure of the bank is not only designed to be in compliance with the new regulatory requirements and objectives but will better reflect who the bank is and what it stands for: a bank that is focused on its customers.
