Royal Bank of Scotland has outsourced the operation and settlement of execution only share deals to TD Waterhouse, under a deal which sees the Canadian broker become a 50:50 joint venture partner in NatWest Personal Financial Management Limited (NWPFM), the holding company for the UK bank's stockbroking arm.
Under the terms of the deal, NatWest Stockbrokers Limited (NWS) will become a 50:50 owned joint venture company which will continue to operate using its existing name. It is expected that NWPFM will have consolidated net assets of approximately £22 million upon completion.
The deal is scheduled to go through in two months, at which point TD Waterhouse will provide the operational and settlement platform for execution only share deals to the customers of Royal Bank of Scotland Group core retail banking brands. The arrangement suits both partees, bringing additional order flow to the TD Waterhouse share-dealing infrastructure, and enabling NWS to expand and enhance the services it can offer the bank's retail customers.
Gordon Pell, chairman, retail banking and wealth management, RBSG, says: "The new partnership will allow us to focus on delivering a quality service to our customers as well as giving us the capability to extend our offering to our entire retail customer base."