Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has plans to move into the commercial banking segment of the UK, possibly via an acquisition, and also intends to scout for opportunities to expand in wealth management, reported Financial Times.
RBC chief executive Dave McKay told the financial daily that the bank was interested to expand into commercial banking, taking on entities, such as HSBC, NatWest, Lloyds, and Barclays.
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It plans to move into the commercial banking space, following the complete integration of RBC’s private bank with Brewin Dolphin, the UK wealth manager whose acquisition was completed in September for £1.6bn.
RBC is claimed to be the largest bank in Canada in terms of market value.
The bank intends to deploy the same strategy that it used in the US, where it acquired City National bank in 2015 and then merged it with its wealth management business, enabling it to provide commercial and private banking services to US firms.
McKay said: “What we have in the US, that we don’t have in the UK, is a strong commercial banking capability. That’s really the core of City National bank, a strong commercial private bank. We would like to replicate that model [in the UK].”
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By GlobalDataHe also added that RBC would explore an acquisition, “particularly one that was like City National, where you had entrepreneurs, commercial, and small business that also required personal financial needs on the high-net-worth side. That type of model and synergy has worked very well for us in Canada and the US.”
The CEO, however, rejected plans of foraying into the UK retail banking space. “We have no ambition to be a digital retail bank, or a physical retail bank, outside of Canada.
“It’s very hard to be a retail bank in someone else’s market. Almost all banks have pulled back from being a retail bank outside of their domestic market.”
