Royal Bank of Canada, as a part of global expansion of its private banking arm, is seeking to acquire wealth management businesses in the UK, reported Reuters, quoting head of advisory at its UK wealth unit.
Phil Cutts, head of advisory for the British Isles at RBC Wealth Management told Reuters: “We definitely want to look at a transaction… We would look for something UK focused as we have now started to build our onshore UK business but we are also interested in the UK offshore space.”
In September 2009, RBC announced that it has entered into a deal to acquire JPMorgan Chase & Co’s investment adviser servicing business, but has not disclosed details of the deal.
Mr. Cutts said that the bank is expected to rush into a deal and would only consider an acquisition that can be absorbed into its existing business model, ruling out adding branded, standalone units. Globally, RBC Wealth Management has around CAD220 billion (130 billion pounds) in assets under management, quoted the news agency.