Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has launched an investigation into its small- and medium-sized enterprise banking unit in China after discovering “potential irregularities,” Reuters reported. An RBS spokeswoman declined to elaborate on the nature of the irregularities but said the number of accounts involved was very small. The spokeswoman also noted that any dishonest behavior by bank staff would be taken extremely seriously. The unit in question was absorbed into RBS’s business following the acquisition of ABN AMRO. The bank is currently in negotiations with HSBC over the possible sale of its remaining retail and commercial assets in Asia – based in China, Malaysia and India – for around US$250 million.
