Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) has said it is considering moving its post-Brexit EU hub to Amsterdam.
The lender had also announced a return to profit in the first half of the year. RBS made ££939 million of profits compared to the £2 billion loss seen a year ago. These beat analyst predictions, who estimated a profit of £343 million.
Chief Executive Ross McEwan said the results were “encouraging”. “The government is getting a much better bank… the core of the bank is delivering”. The government still owns 71 percent of the bank.
RBS is in advanced talks with Dutch authorities over the new EU hub, which could employ 150 people. Some would be relocated from London, whilst others will be hired locally.
The cost of the move would be“will be in the low tens of millions” of pounds.
“It’s not going to be a large operation, purely to serve UK customers who need to operate in European Union and vice versa…we don’t want any disruption to that.” Ross added.
RBS is currently facing an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority over money laundering.
“On 21 July 2017, the FCA notified RBS that it is undertaking an investigation into RBS plc’s compliance with the money-laundering regulations 2007 in relation to certain customers. RBS is cooperating with the investigation,” said the lender.
McEwan said: “We’re doing what we said we would at our full-year results in February – growing income, reducing cost and improving returns for shareholders, while also starting to deliver a better service for customers,”
“We see the first six months of this year as proof of the investment case for this bank: our path to sustainable profitability is becoming clearer and closer and we have resolved some of the most significant issues this bank faced,”
Shares rose 4 percent to 266.7p in early trading.