THE Royal Bank of Scotland has revealed more about its plan to float its American business Citizens in the coming months.

However, the stock market debut could face headwinds from a competing share sale by Chinese retailer Alibaba.

Shares in Citizens will trade on the New York Stock Exchange, the firm said yesterday. Following RBS's half-year results this month, Citizens has updated its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to show net income of $479 million, compared to a loss last year, and said its total capitalisation had improved to $35.8 billion.

Alibaba, set to be one of the world's biggest ever share sales, is occupying some of the same US banks working with Citizens. This has pushed back Citizens' debut by several weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported. RBS declined to comment.