Royal Bank of Scotland eyes Ulster Bank deal

Royal Bank of Scotland has brought in investment bank Morgan Stanley to advise it on merger opportunities for its Irish unit, Ulster Bank.

Ulster Bank, the biggest bank in Northern Ireland and the third-largest in the Republic of Ireland, has racked up losses of £2.5 billion in the past two years.

It accounts for less than 4 per cent of RBS’s assets but was responsible for 20 per cent of its bad debt write-offs last year.

“We think there may be further consolidation in the market. We’re looking to see if Ulster Bank can play a part in that,” chief executive Jim Brown told the Irish Times. “If you look at the banking market, it’s very clear that there’s the two pillar banks and there’s us.”