The UK trust business of Coutts and NatWest has been sold to a new firm - Ludlow Trust Company - under an agreed acquisition deal.

The transaction effectively represents an outsourcing arrangement by the two banks with Ludlow, which will have a non-exclusive arrangement with the two for future business flows.

Coutts meanwhile will continue to advise on trusts, Inheritance Tax planning and wealth structuring for its high net worth clients.

This is the second disposal of a trust business by Coutts. It agreed a management buyout of its Jersey trust operation in 2016, a venture which was then launched as Highvern ...