RBS Coutts is to close its offices in Solothurn and Basle in Switzerland by the end of next month, and its Tokyo office by the end of January. This follows the closure of its operation in the Spanish city of Marbella in November. All four closures form a consolidatory move in support of long term growth plans in the Asian, Latin American and Central and Eastern European markets, the bank told WealthBriefing.

“These were small operations for RBS Coutts. The decision to close them was, in part, a reaction to the difficult economic climate but, more importantly, it was meant to consolidate the business as part of our growth strategy in these markets,” a spokesperson said.

The four closures mean the loss of 13 jobs. The spokesperson said some employees will be offered new positions at its offices in Berne and Zurich.

RBS Coutts Bank is part of the international private banking business of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, of which Coutts & Co in the UK is also a subsidiary. In Switzerland , RBS Coutts is the fourth-largest foreign-owned private banking institution.

The bank's chief executive spoke in confident tones of RBS Coutt's prospects in a December interview.

Swiss native Hanspeter Brunner said: "In recent months, we have gone through traumatic changes. But I am optimistic that we will emerge stronger from the crisis, as individuals and as an organisation.

"As a bank, we have weathered many crises over our 300-year history, and personally I've been through quite a number of crises myself. But we have always focused on long-term wealth preservation. That philosophy has stood us through the good and bad. We have always been a forward-looking organization and we always ask ourselves, 'What about tomorrow?' This is all the more important now.”