RBS may place business lending back in branches Joseph Dickerson, a banks analyst at Jefferies, said the move "would make sense strategically" for RBS. "Small business lending is in the DNA of the retail bank in a way that it isn't in the corporate division," he said. If this happens, it would look like a good move to me. Mr McEwan is expected formally to outline his strategy for RBS alongside the bank's full-year results on February 27, where he will set out several changes aimed at cutting costs and refocusing the business on the British market. On Tuesday, Mr McEwan is scheduled to hold a conference call with senior managers at which he is expected to give an update on the strategy review, though he is unlikely to detail his plans completely. As well as putting small business lending into the retail bank, Mr McEwan is also understood to be considering closing the private banking services of RBS and NatWest. According to sources with knowledge of the situation, wealthy customers with sufficient assets could be offered the chance to move their accounts to Coutts, the private bank owned by RBS, while less well-off customers would be offered the use of other premium banking services. Project Cook, the internal name being used by RBS for the strategy review, is expected to lead to the announcement of thousands of new job cuts, adding to the more than 40,000 redundancies made since the lender's £45.5bn rescue by the taxpayer in 2008. Unlike Lloyds Banking Group, where the process of selling off the state's holding began last year, none of the taxpayer's 81pc stake in RBS has yet been sold. However, Mr McEwan has been charged with continuing the turnaround of the bank since taking over from Stephen Hester in October. Before becoming chief executive, Mr McEwan was head of RBS's retail banking division. He is expected to lead the further reduction of the lender's investment banking arm, as well as the reorganisation of its British business.