Brexit

What it means for business

There are no immediate changes to your banking services while the UK remains a member of the EU.

We’re closely monitoring the situation and we’re aiming to provide you with as much notice as possible should any changes be required. Our aim is to continue to provide you with the same level of service and range of products as we do today. We’re also preparing for the intended move of our Western Europe Large Corporate coverage teams to NatWest Markets N.V. As much as possible we’ll minimise disruption to our customers’ business and we’ll provide our customers with our full support throughout the transition.

Regardless of the outcomes of the Brexit negotiations, we are committed to helping you and your business succeed. With our expert knowledge, we’re here to support you with the opportunities and challenges that Brexit could potentially bring to your business.

As our business is largely UK-focused, the impact on RBS is not as significant as it is on many other banks. While the EU negotiations continue, we will not know the full implications of the outcomes of Brexit. In anticipation, we’re preparing for a number of scenarios, including a no deal, so that we can continue to support our customers.

We’ve made good progress on our Brexit plans. We have implemented our plan to use our banking entity in the Netherlands, NatWest Markets N.V., and began serving some of our non-UK EEA customers from this entity on 25 March 2019. We’ve also transferred our Western Europe Large Corporate business into NatWest Markets.

Based in Amsterdam, NatWest Markets N.V. has branches in London, Dublin, Frankfurt, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Stockholm. NatWest Markets N.V. offers the same products and services that NatWest Markets Plc provides from the UK, with connections to the market infrastructure providers needed to serve you, including trading venues and counterparty clearing houses.

We also have new banking licences for our Branch in Frankfurt, which allows us continued access to the Financial Market’s infrastructure in Germany to support Euro Payments and Euro Liquidity via the Bundesbank. 

Our Ulster Bank Ireland DAC business will continue to provide services for our customers that live, invest and do business in Ireland.

We continue to work closely with the UK Government, Bank of England, HMT (Her Majesty's Treasury), our regulators, the PRA (Prudential Regulation Authority) and FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) as well as UK Finance – to help us understand what Brexit means for the Financial Services sector and regularly review our plans to ensure we’re ready to meet every eventuality.

The Withdrawal Deal now needs be approved by member states and the UK & European Parliaments. It is expected that the full future EU-UK deal, including for financial services will be worked through during the transition period.

“Brexit” is the short-hand term being used to describe the UK’s exit from the European Union (EU).   The UK voted to leave the EU following a referendum in June 2016. In March 2017, the UK Government started the process of leaving the EU by triggering Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union.  There should no immediate impact on your everyday banking services.

Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union is a provision in law which sets out how a Member State can leave the EU.

The EU and UK have signed a Withdrawal Deal on the UK’s departure from the EU. They have also agreed a top level political agreement on the future UK-EU relationship which is not legally binding at this stage.

The EU currently consists of:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

The EEA includes EU countries and also Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. It allows them to be part of the EU’s single market.

Switzerland is neither an EU nor EEA member but is part of the single market - this means Swiss nationals have the same rights to live and work in the UK as other EEA nationals.

In March 2018, the European Council announced the framework for a transition period, under which the UK would continue to participate in the European Single Market. This means UK banks would continue to have access to the European Single Market using financial services passporting rights. However, the transition period still needs to be approved by the UK and European parliaments, plus formally approved by the European Council so it is not yet legally agreed.

Passporting allows us as a bank to sell our financial services in the EU, so that it’s as easy to lend to a customer in Madrid as it is to lend to a customer in Manchester. It also means that some of the foreign banks who have offices here in the UK can sell their financial services into EU countries and in the UK.

We are a UK focused bank, so for the vast majority of customers, our services and products will remain the same after Brexit. However, to prepare for the possible loss of EU passporting we will use our banking entity in the Netherlands, NatWest Markets N.V to provide continuity of service from NatWest Markets to our non-UK EEA customers. As the Netherlands is a member of the EU, we’ll be able to use EU passporting rights for NatWest Markets N.V. to serve EEA customers.

We're also preparing for the intended move of our Western Europe Large Corporate business and operations to transfer to NatWest Markets N.V. We’ll make sure there’s minimal disruption to our customers’ business and we’ll provide our customers with our full support throughout the transition.

Making these changes to our operations will allow us to continue to offer products and services to all our customers, regardless of where they live and where they do business.

Passporting is intrinsic to the Single Market and will not be available to the UK after Brexit. The UK Government in its July 2018 white paper stated that its proposal for the economic partnership would include new arrangements on services and investments that provide regulatory flexibility.

Yes. There should be no immediate changes to how you make and receive payments to EU countries. And of course you can continue to access your bank account through the mobile app to conduct your everyday banking needs. Your usual direct debits and other payments should continue as normal.

Yes. It will still be easy to use your bank card in ATMs across Europe, in much the same way as you can use it today when you go on holiday to non-EU countries, such as America or Australia. And of course you can continue to access your bank account through the mobile app to conduct your everyday banking needs.

Yes. Your money will continue to be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. More information is available at https://protected.fscs.org.uk/money-protection-checker/

There is as yet no specific guidance on UK banking, however there is a risk that in the event of ‘no deal’, access to certain banking services in the UK could be restricted.

Post-Brexit our access to euro payment capability for our customers will remain as it is today.