Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is, reportedly, planning to merge its Irish business Ulster Bank with other lenders such as Permanent TSB or the Irish subsidiaries of Danske Bank or KBC.
The move by RBS follows after its attempt to sell the business failed.
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Merging the institution would not only allow Ulster Bank to reduce costs but would also allow RBS to reduce its stake in Ulster Bank to less than 50%.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio One’s This Week programme, Ireland finance minister, Michael Noonan, said he was looking at the possibility of overseas banks partnering with Irish lenders to create a competitor to the country’s biggest lenders – Allied Irish Bank and Bank of Ireland.
"I’m sending a signal out to the European banking system that a growing economy in Ireland has space for more banking activity and we would welcome their participation in Ireland by way of subsidiaries or by way of going into partnership with some of our domestic banks," Noonan added.
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