London: Bailed out lender Royal Bank of Scotland is close to sealing a deal to sell its assets in China, India and Malaysia to Standard Chartered, a report said on Monday.
The Guardian said the 200-million-pound (229-million-euro, USD 328-million) deal between RBS, now government controlled, and emerging market British specialist Standard Chartered was imminent.
"Standard Chartered is currently the frontrunner in this auction," an unnamed source was quoted as saying by the newspaper, adding that HSBC was "still hovering in the background."
The report comes after the Financial Times said last month that the RBS plans to sell its Chinese assets to Standard Chartered had run into problems and looked set to fail.
RBS is majority-owned by the British government after being ravaged by the credit crunch.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, September 07, 2009, 09:34