Royal Bank of Scotland goes local in US deal

The Royal Bank of Scotland has opted for a local US firm to advise on its multi-million-pound acquisition of UST Corporation.

The u874m purchase of the Boston-based bank, made through Citizens Financial, the Royal Bank of Scotland's New England arm, was handled by local firm Goodwin Procter & Hoar, while UK issues were handled in-house.

The bank usually uses Freshfields in the UK, which also has offices in New York and Washington DC. But Millar McLean, company secretary at the Royal Bank of Scotland, says: "When we moved into the US we felt that we needed to have an indigenous firm working with us. Being based there they can give an input into regulatory issues."

The bank also uses Davis Polk & Wardwell in the US for commercial work.

This is the second acquisition the Royal Bank of Scotland has made to bolster Citizens Financial in the past two months, buying US bank State Street in April. However, McLean says the purchase of UST Corporation is by far the largest.