According to some sources over ¼ of the personnel at the Singapore office of private bank RBS Coutts have resigned from the company and joined Swiss rival BSI. Meantime, RBS Coutts, part of Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, reported on Tuesday that "a little over 70 people" had left the bank.

A few moths earlier Hanspeter Brunner, former co-CEO of RBS Coutts, and Raj Sriram, head of its South Asia unit, decided to resign from the wealth manager. Both are joining BSI and some staff will join them.

According to an RBS Coutts spokesman the staff who resigned from the company made up nearly 28% of the Singapore workforce and 15% of the wealth manager's Asia staff. The reasons for the staff to leave were not elaborated.

The spokesman confirmed that the bank plans to recruit 200 more staff in Asia over the next five years and aims to double its assets in the same period.