RBS sells off 94 Chicago branches ahead of US IPO Through its Citizens Bank arm, RBS owns 1,400 branches employing 18,000 staff across 12 US states. However, as part of its plans to refocus on its UK operations, the bank is planning to begin the sell off of its US operations this year. Bruce Van Saun, chief executive of Citizens and the former finance director of RBS, said the sale of the bank's Chicago business, which handled $5.3bn (£3.2bn) in customer deposits, was part of a wider reorganisation of the operation. Floating Citizens could value the business at more than $8bn by some estimates and would be one of the largest ever spin-outs by a British bank, dwarfing RBS's own successful sell offs of the Direct Line insurance business and payment processor WorldPay. The terms of the sale of the Chicago branches to US Bancorp have not been made public, though RBS did say it had achieved a "deposit premium" on the disposal of the business's loans of about $315m. Following the sale, RBS will continue to operate a mortgage lending, consumer finance and auto financing service in the Chicago market, as well as offering commercial banking services to local businesses. "We have a number of business growth initiatives and enhancements to the customer experience in flight that position us well for the future," said Mr Van Saun. The flotation of Citizens comes amid a new period of uncertainty for RBS as its recently-appointed chief executive, Ross McEwan, prepares to set out his plans to turnaround the bank. Mr McEwan is expected to unveil his vision for RBS alongside the lender's full-year results next month.