Santander reported to be pondering sale of its Jersey private banking business

Santander, the huge Spanish banking group, is reported to be looking into the possibility of selling its Jersey-based private banking operation, believed to comprise tens of thousands of customers and around £4 billion in deposits.

The Jersey business was rebranded in 2010 as Santander Private Banking from Abbey International (which it acquired in 2004).

The fact that Santander are looking at the options is by no means evidence that it has already taken a decision to sell – it conducted a similar review of its Alliance & Leicester International business on the Isle of Man earlier this year, and has retained ownership of that business.

The sale of a private bank in Jersey is not necessarily straight-forward because of the policy of the Island’s regulator only to grant banking licences to banks amongst the world’s largest 500.  This limits the pool of potential buyers quite considerably, although there are still numerous banks operating in the private client field in the Island who could view this as an opportunity to add some significant critical mass.  Royal Bank of Canada, Kleinwort Benson, UBS and Investec are amongst a number all of whom have significant existing operations in the Island.

Santander is understood to have appointed London based corporate finance advisory firm Gleacher Shacklock, to assist in the process.