I have a long and established relationship with the Scottish North American Business Council (SNABC) having joined the SNABC back in 2002. After returning from two years working in the US, I was keen to ensure that the bank was able to identify opportunities to assist US companies investing in Scotland. The SNABC enables me to do just that – by providing a forum to keep up to date with various initiatives and meet people with an interest in UK/Scottish relations.

The SNABC also arrange a series of excellent networking events for their extensive membership, which has enabled me to form some very worthwhile relationships. I have been on the Board of the SNABC for over two years now and I have met a number of senior individuals from both the public and private sector that make up the Board and its members. We are therefore proud to be the premier sponsor of the BABC autumn conference in 2005. The Royal Bank of Scotland is a major force in the provision of trade-related financial services and we fully recognise the role international trade can play in helping businesses maximise their potential. We believe this event will be an ideal platform to emphasis the importance of transatlantic trade to the Scottish economy.

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) is one of the world’s leading financial services companies. With a market capitalisation of £53.3bn on 14 December 2004, we now rank as the sixth largest bank in the world, and second largest in Europe and the UK(1). RBS operates in Europe, the US and Asia Pacific, serving more than 30 million customers worldwide and employing approximately 135,000 people. In addition to the provision of a full range of banking services under The Royal Bank of Scotland, RBS also provides banking solutions via its wholly-owned subsidiary Citizens Financial Group (Citizens) and RBS Greenwich Capital, both based in the US.

Citizens
Citizens is engaged in retail and corporate banking activities through its branch network in the states of Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey. It is the 11th largest commercial banking organisation in the US measured by deposits(2). It provides a full range of retail and corporate banking services, including personal banking, residential mortgages and home equity loans and engages in a wide variety of commercial loans (including real estate), consumer lending, credit card services, trust services and retail investment services.

RBS Greenwich Capital
RBS Greenwich Capital is a fixed-income sales, trading and finance firm that has served institutional clients for more than 20 years. Headquartered in Greenwich (Connecticut), RBS Greenwich Capital also has offices in Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston, and affiliates in London and Asia. RBS Greenwich Capital tailors debt capital market solutions and has a leading position in US treasuries and asset-backed securities, with its US Government sales and trading operations ranked Number One and Number Two respectively(3).

Global reach
The scale of our business has grown significantly over the past five years through strong organic growth and acquisitions including that of Charter One Bank by Citizens last summer, thus reinforcing the geographical reach of RBS in the US and worldwide. Against this backdrop of increasing globalisation, our customers are focusing more on international business. To support them, it is vital to provide a high-quality, end-to-end, cross-border banking proposition.

Our credentials
We have established relationships with hundreds of banks across the world and many of them have selected The Royal Bank of Scotland to be their UK corporate banking and international cash management provider. As a result of our commitment to this market, 31% of all overseas companies operating in the UK have chosen The Royal Bank of Scotland as their UK banking provider(4).

In addition, our international corporate customers increasingly demand the ability to access their accounts and funds in overseas locations. The Royal Bank of Scotland is one of Europe’s leading International Cash Management banks, with a well-developed network of 50 partner banks across 29 countries and an extensive range of International Cash Management products. The Royal Bank of Scotland offers a wider range of products and services to fulfil companies’ international banking requirements, including a full suite of payment, trade and cash management services, our specialist International Trade Finance team and a wide range of cash deposit and investment products in all major currencies.

Making the next move
At The Royal Bank of Scotland, our established networks in the US and worldwide, and comprehensive product range, allow us to offer considerable benefits to customers. We take time to understand a customer’s international business fully – trading relationships, critical points for working capital, and so on – within the context of their overall strategy, in order to put together appropriate solutions that work. When it comes to trading internationally, The Royal Bank of Scotland can offer your business all the help, support and advice you need.

For more information, contact Derek Weir, Managing Director,
Commercial Banking UK, on:
Tel: +44 (0) 131 523 8514
E-mail: derek.weir@rbs.co.uk
Website: www.rbs.co.uk





1 Datastream; 2 RBS Interim Results 2004; 3 RBS Annual Report and Accounts 2003; 4 pH Group 2003;