Coutts

Coutts & Co. is a private bank and wealth manager. Founded in 1692, it is one of the world’s oldest banks, and is wholly owned by The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (itself 84% owned by UK Financial Investments, an investment arm of the British government). RBS acquired Coutts when it bought NatWest in 2000. Coutts then acquired Zürich-based Bank von Ernst & Cie in 2003 and in 2008, Coutts Bank von Ernst and other Coutts International subsidiaries became RBS Coutts Bank. These traded as RBS Coutts International to align them with the parent RBS Group until 2011, when RBS Coutts was renamed Coutts & Co. Limited.

Headquartered in London, Coutts is a wholly owned subsidiary of National Westminster Bank and part of the commercial and private banking division of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, with clients from over 40 offices in financial centres in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Middle East and Asia.

In March 2015, RBS sold Coutts International to Union Bancaire Privée, as part of a plan to focus the group on fewer countries.

By Dean Hanley