RBS Close To Announcing Sale Of Taiwan Assets To ANZ-Sources

Royal Bank of Scotland PLC (RBS) will announce the sale of its Taiwan banking assets to Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ.AU) as soon as next week, people familiar with the situation said Thursday.

One of them said Taiwan would be the first of several Asian retail and commercial banking assets ANZ would acquire from RBS. Included in this sale, however, would be RBS's Taiwan investment banking operations, the person said.

The people didn't disclose the price of the acquisition.

ANZ's Melbourne-based spokesman Paul Edwards declined to comment but said "discussions (with RBS) are progressing well."

RBS's Hong Kong based spokeswoman Yukmin Hui said the sale process of the Asian retail and commercial assets is "well advanced," but wouldn't comment on individual elements of the deal due to regulatory and confidentiality constraints.

"RBS will continue to retain its presence in 11 markets in Asia, including its securities business in Taiwan," she added. She didn't elaborate on what the securities business entailed.

RBS said earlier in the year that it planned to sell its retail and commercial businesses in the region, as part of efforts to dispose of noncore businesses. But it left the door open to selling other noncore operations as well.

The troubled lender's sale of assets has attracted the attention of not just ANZ, which is still primarily focused on the Australian market, but also Standard Chartered PLC (STAN.LN), which has a wide franchise in the region, other people familiar with the situation said earlier.

-By Amy Or, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2832 2335; amy.or@dowjones.com

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