Acquisition

Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC
24 November 2000



                             Company Announcement


The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc ('Royal Bank Group')
to provide £500m funding for Banco Santander Central Hispano SA ('BSCH')


The Royal Bank of Scotland Group today announces that it intends to support
its alliance partner BSCH in connection with BSCH's proposed acquisition of a
controlling stake in the Brazilian bank, Banespa.

Royal Bank Group has agreed to subscribe for approximately £300m of new equity
in BSCH thereby increasing its ordinary shareholding in BSCH from 2.06% to
2.99%. In addition, approximately £200 million will be subscribed for
preference shares to be issued by the BSCH group.

Fred Goodwin, Group Chief Executive of Royal Bank Group said:

'We are very pleased to be able to provide this tangible support to our
long-standing alliance partner, BSCH, in their important strategic acquisition
in Brazil. In doing so we also restore our stake in BSCH to its pre-BCH merger
level.'





Contact:

Fred Goodwin                    Tel: [phone]

Group Chief Executive

Fred Watt                    Tel: [phone]

Group Finance Director