Royal Bank of Scotland Plc has launched the sale of private bank Coutts International and has invited at least 10 potential suitors, including Credit Suisse, Julius Baer and Malayan Banking Bhd to participate in an auction, sources said. The sale could fetch about $1 billion for RBS, which was bailed out by the British government during the 2008 global financial crisis. Coutts International, which counts Queen Elizabeth as a customer, manages about $36 billion of which about a third comes from Asia.RBS and its adviser Goldman Sachs have sent out sale documents containing financial and other details of the business to companies including Singapore lenders DBS Group Holdings Ltd and United Overseas Bank Ltd, Societe Generale, HSBC, Bank J Safra Sarasin , BNP Paribas, Canada's Bank of Montreal among others, the people who had knowledge of the matter told Reuters.First-round offers are due before Christmas, they added.Officials from Credit Suisse, Julius Baer, Maybank, BNP, HSBC, United Overseas Bank, DBS and Sarasin declined to comment.
Bank of Montreal (BMO Financial Group) is a diversified financial services provider that provides a range of retail banking, wealth management and investment banking products and services. Shares of BMO fell by 0.31% or $-0.22/share to $70.28. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $60.34 and as high as $78.56. On average, 554608 shares of BMO exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 963979.
Shares of BMO traded higher by 0.07% or $0.06/share to $80.27. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $67.04 and as high as $85.71. On average, 1318150 shares of BMO.TO exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2153570.
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