Commission investigates alternative to divestment commitment for Royal Bank of Scotland

The European Commission announced on 4 April 2017 it had opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether the alternative package proposed by the authorities in the United Kingdom is an appropriate replacement for the commitment for the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to divest Williams & Glyn, required as part of its restructuring plan.

The Commission approved in December 2009 the public recapitalisation of RBS under EU state aid rules on the basis of the restructuring plan and associated commitments, which were amended in April 2014. The restructuring included the divestment of RBS's UK retail and SME banking operations, Williams & Glyn (also known as 'Rainbow'), to remedy competition concerns in the concentrated UK SME banking sector.

Bloomberg, 04.04.17: RBS's Plan B Probed by EU After Failure to Sell Williams & Glyn https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-04/rbs-s-plan-b-probed-by-eu-after-failure-to-sell-williams-glyn

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