ROYAL Bank of Scotland has sold $290 million (£236m) of shipping loans to Japanese financial services firm Orix.
Sources close to the bank told Reuters that most of the loans are of investment grade and made to Greek borrowers.
The move comes as state-backed Royal Bank continues its lengthy restructuring programme, which includes the sale of its Williams & Glyn consumer branch network.
It was reported in June that RBS was looking for a buyer to take on its entire Greek shipping business, which is valued at about $3 billion, however potential suitors backed away following the Brexit vote.
Last month Reuters reported Royal Bank was close to selling at least $600m of the loan book. The sources said that Orix sees the loan book as an opportunity to buy take on loans made to healthy borrowers.
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