The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) financial group decided to sell its Romanian branch, as part of a re-structuring program that includes the sale of all assets that are not related to the primary operations. The institution divided its assets in three groups - "Primary countries", "Refocused countries" and "Explore new ownership".

Romania is part of the last division, along with Argentina, Bahrain, Chile, Columbia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, New Zeeland, Pakistan, the Philippines, Portugal, Slovakia, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Vietnam.

The group's officials in Romania refused to comment on the subject. On Monday, Central Bank (BNR) governor, Mugur Isarescu, said that RBS was one of the most solid banks on the local market.

RBS announced on Thursday a 27 billion Euros loss in 2008, the largest loss ever recorded for an UK company.