Local technology glitch snares Royal Bank of Scotland’s disposal plans

A technology glitch centred around six branches in Scotland is hampering Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) plan to offload its Williams & Glyn retail banking unit and resume dividend payments to shareholders.

When RBS agreed to sell Williams & Glyn, which oversees more than 300 RBS and NatWest branches in England, Scotland and Wales, in 2009, it hoped to do so within months.

Almost seven years later, it is still struggling to divest the business, with a tangled web of technology causing six branches scattered across its home country to become a major issue.