Santander takeover of RBS branches delayed until 2012

Santander's takeover of 318 RBS branches is not expected to be completed until the first quarter of 2012, despite hopes the deal would be done by the end of 2011.

The integration involves branches being spun out of RBS, which was forced to sell them by the EU as the price for its £54bn taxpayer bailout, rather than a traditional takeover, reports The Guardian.

When the deal was announced in August 2010, RBS said it expected the sale of 311 RBS-branded branches in England and Wales, seven NatWest-branded branches in Scotland and the retail and small business customers associated with those branches to be completed by December 2011.

However, the completion date is now thought likely to be in the early part of 2012 as both banks work through the complicated process of transferring customers between the two operations.