(13 December 2012 – India) HSBC has had to call off its acquisition of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) operations in India as it implements its global cost cutting drive.After two years of negotiations and countless regulatory and commercial roadblocks, HSBC said it is still committed to pursuing growth in India.
The Reserve Bank of India had given a conditional approval to the deal in December 2011, where in it declined transfer of RBS bank branches to HSBC.
The Reserve Bank of India does not permit automatic transfer of branches in an asset sale.
Meanwhile, RBS has decided to wind down its retail and small and medium enterprises business.
It will also reduce the loan portfolios in line with the stated Group policy of running down Non-Core assets, said RBS in a statement.