Brussels, 18/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - Having established that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area, on Friday 15 October the European Commission authorised the acquisition of a number of retail and commercial banking assets of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) in the UK by Banco Santander of Spain.
These assets consist of RBS branch-related retail and small and medium sized-enterprise (SME) business in England and Wales, NatWest branch-related retail and SME business in Scotland along with certain mid-corporate customer accounts in the UK, in total approximately 300 branches and around 40 SME and business banking centres.
The operation, of which the Commission was notified on 10 September, forms part, along with others (see EUROPE 10237), of RBS restructuring and sale of bank assets so that RBS shares the costs of its restructuring and compensates for the distortions of competition created by the state support it received. The decision is without prejudice to Royal Bank of Scotland's obligations under the state aid procedure. (F.G./transl.rt)