Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is planning to exit from central and eastern Europe and the Middle East as it reviews strategic options for its corporate lending division in these regions.
The lender has appointed PwC as advisor for the strategic review.
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RBS said, "We are looking at options across our central and eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa network, but no decisions have been taken. It is business as usual and we remain committed to serving our customers in the region."
The bank plans to reduce its non-UK activities to less than a quarter of its assets over the next few years as a restructuring measure announced earlier in 2014.
The lender, which is 81% owned by the UK government, has in the UAE, Qatar, Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia.
It comprises £19.1bn of credit exposure to the central and eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region and central Asia and supranationals, including the World Bank.
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By GlobalDataThe bank is also in the process of selling non-UK operations of its private bank Coutts.
