DBS Group Holdings Ltd Wednesday said it will take over Royal Bank of Scotland Group's retail and commercial banking businesses on China's mainland.

The deal gives Southeast Asia's biggest bank access to RBS's 25,000 clients in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen, Singapore-based DBS said yesterday.

"This landmark agreement enables DBS China to rapidly expand its retail banking customer base, increase its deposit base and accelerate plans to grow its loan portfolio in a market that is of critical importance to DBS," said Melvin Teo, the chief executive officer of DBS China.

Teo stressed that DBS is not paying for the transfer of clients and that RBS will keep its China business license.

The CEO said RBS's China customers hold deposits of US$900 million and that DBS expects to keep 70 to 80 percent of these clients.

Teo also said DBS will keep a percentage of RBS's 600 employees in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen based on how many clients decide to keep their accounts with the Singapore-based lender.

The additional deposits will reduce DBS's loan-to-deposit ratio to 70 percent, down from 79 percent. Overseas banks are required to meet the regulatory maximum of 75 percent by the end of 2011.

For RBS, the deal is part of its strategy to shed assets following a government bailout and record losses. Edinburgh-based RBS is selling or shutting businesses in two-thirds of the 54 countries in which it operates after posting the biggest loss in British corporate history in 2008.

Read more: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=457415&type=Business#ixzz18ExTB0qw