The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) on Monday said that it was negotiating a sale of its retail investor and equity derivatives (IP&ED) business. The terms of the deal has yet to be determined. Reuters, citing several industry sources, said France's BNP Paribas is the buyout deal's front-runner. RBS has a total of EUR1.811 trillion assets under management, based on its third quarter report.

BNP Paribas is a global bank and financial services company headquartered in Paris. It has a total of EUR1.965 trillion in assets under management and a total equity of EUR85.62 billion based on its 2010 Annual Report. 

In June, RBS said that it would offload its IP&ED. The move was made to appease lawmakers who demanded the bank to focus on lending to domestic households and businesses, the report said. 

According to Reuters, RBS has dramatically cut the size of its investment bank after receiving a GBP45.5 billion (USD73 billion) government bailout during the 2008 financial crisis.