The company is part of the RBS banking group which says the decision to close Lombard’s offshore operation is a result of the new rules which aim to simplify and stabilise the banking system.
Lombard, which has been operating in the Island since 1972, provides lending products for businesses which need funding for capital projects. The Jersey office ceased taking on new business from the beginning of last month.
An RBS spokesman said: ‘As a result of ring-fencing legislation introduced by the UK government, we need to reorganise the bank’s legal entity structure and business model and have stopped writing new business in Lombard Offshore, with effect from 1 July.’
The ‘ring-fencing’ recommendations, due to come into force from 1 January 2019, require all of the UK banking groups to separate basic retail business – such as deposits made by individual customers and small businesses – from more complex and high-risk transactions, such as investments.
The regulations are intended to protect ordinary customers should the riskier parts of a bank’s business fail.
RBS, which is more than 70 per cent owned by the UK government, was one of the banks bailed out during the global financial crisis in 2008 at a cost to the taxpayer of £45 billion.
