JPMorgan Buy of RBS Sempra Hits Snag

JPMorgan Chase is concerned about buying RBS Sempra's U.S. division after President Barack Obama announced that U.S. banks might one day be banned from engaging in proprietary trading, a report says.
By TheStreet Staff ,

NEW YORK (

TheStreet

) --

JPMorgan Chase's

(JPM) - Get Report

proposed acquisition of

RBS Sempra's

global commodities trading business has hit some snags, the

Financial Times

reports.

JPMorgan Chase is concerned about buying the group's American division after President Barack Obama announced that U.S. banks might one day be banned from engaging in proprietary trading, industry insiders told the newspaper.

The

Financial Times

reports the U.S. division of RBS Sempra's commodities operations could be put up for sale separately to avoid any possible restrictions put in place by the Obama administration.

The bank is said to remain committed to buying RBS Sempra's European operations and its global oil trading group, which together account for about 50% of the business.

RBS Sempra is a joint venture of

Royal Bank of Scotland

(RBS) - Get Report

and

Sempra Energy

(SRE) - Get Report

. Royal Bank of Scotland was ordered to sell its 51% stake in the joint venture under a European Commission state-aid ruling.

JPMorgan's talks over buying the business remain "constructive," a person familiar with the negotiations told the

Financial Times

.

Deutsche Bank

(DB) - Get Report

, meanwhile, still maintains some interest in purchasing RBS's stake in the joint venture, the report says.

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