By Rita Trichur and Alistair MacDonald
TORONTO-- Royal Bank of Canada has hired J.P. Morgan to run a
sale process for RBC Suisse SA, its Swiss wealth-management
operations, according to people familiar with the matter.
The business has been under strategic review since November.
Toronto-based RBC, Canada's second-largest bank by assets and
largest by market capitalization, could also ultimately decide to
shutter RBC Suisse if it can't be sold, one of these people
said.
RBC faces a competitive market in Switzerland, where a number of
foreign banks are divesting themselves of operations. Morgan
Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and HSBC Holdings PLC are
among the banks who have sold. Others, including Royal Bank of
Scotland Group PLC, are seeking buyers for Swiss-based assets.
A spokeswoman for RBC declined comment on the sales process. RBC
Suisse, which had total assets of 2 billion Swiss francs, or about
$2 billion, at the end of 2013, was put under strategic review in
late November as the bank announced a restructuring of its
international wealth-management businesses.
"There have been no updates with regards to the realignment
since it was announced in late November, so we have no further
comment to provide," said RBC spokeswoman Claire Holland in an
emailed statement earlier this week.
"In terms of rationale, the realignment will position RBC Wealth
Management for sustainable, controlled growth in our priority
markets and aligns to our long-term vision for a scalable and more
focused business serving high net worth and ultra-high net worth
clients from our key operational hubs in Canada, the U.S., the
British Isles and Asia, " added Ms. Holland.
As part of the previously announced changes, RBC has said it
plans to exit its Wealth Management International business in the
Caribbean, and "certain international advisory and international
private banking groups in Canada and the U.S."
RBC has said that the changes will affect a small part of its
overall wealth management business and will result in an
unspecified number of job losses.
RBC Suisse earned net income of 9.3 million Swiss francs in
fiscal 2013, up from 905,356 Swiss francs in 2012, according to its
latest annual report.
Shayndi Raice and John Letzing contributed to this article
Write to Rita Trichur at rita.trichur@wsj.com and Alistair
MacDonald at alistair.macdonald@wsj.com
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