JOHN McCormick, the chief executive officer of RBS Asia Pacific, probably finds it a relief to be on this side of the world, far from the hurly-burly of events dogging the British-based bank on its own turf.

Royal Bank of Scotland has been in business since 1696. The venerable icon of British banking has had a hard few years.

During the global financial crisis, Royal Bank of Scotland had to be bailed out by the British government, which now owns 82 percent of it. About 36,000 jobs were to be slashed. In January 2011, RBS was fined 28.58 million pounds (US$44.6 million) for engaging in anti-competitive practices with Barclays in the pricing of loan products. Barclays CEO Bob Diamond already quit his job due to the financial markets scandal. Diamond's resignation comes a day after Barclays Chairman Marcus Agius fell on his sword too.

Earlier this year, the bank confirmed reports that it is among a handful of lending giants being investigated in the ongoing scandal over rigged interest rates in London. The disclosure came as the bank is still smarting from a public backlash over a computer meltdown in June that affected millions of its customers.

McCormick faced no controversy on a whirlwind trip to Shanghai, where he was happy to sit down and discuss the bank's strategies on the quiet side of the banking world.

In China, the bank has set up a locally incorporated bank headquartered in Shanghai and a wholly owned leasing company in Beijing. It also has joint ventures with Suzhou Trust and Galaxy Futures, and has opened a securities joint venture, Hau Ying Securities, in nearby Wuxi City in Jiangsu Province.

RBS is seeking to shore up its business in the world's second-largest economy after it was forced to sell a stake in Bank of China in 2009 for 1.6 billion British pounds.

Based in Hong Kong, McCormick became Asia CEO for RBS in December 2005. He managed the bank through the integration of RBS and ABN AMRO businesses in the region, beginning in 2007, and through the divestment of the bank's Asia retail and commercial banking business in 2009, when RBS was shedding retail and small businesses finance to sharpen its focus on wholesale and investment banking.

Q: What's your view on yuan's rising position in the global market?

A: Ever since China leapfrogged Japan to become the world's second biggest economy last year, demand to trade its currency, the yuan, have risen to a clamor. Sooner or later, China's central government will heed those calls and allow the separate domestic and international units of the yuan to converge. The effect will be startling. Central banks will adopt it as a major reserve currency and markets will use it for the massive trade and investment flows in and out of China. Any company wanting to do business with China that is not primed for the change does so at its own peril.

Q: What's your advice to companies worldwide to ride on the rise of yuan?

A: Any company that does trade with China, has foreign exchange exposure there, or just needs to raise cash in the current fragile global economic environment has a responsibility to its shareholders to be au fait with the fast-changing yuan market and efforts to increase trading the currency outside the Chinese mainland. Companies need to know how to raise yuan, how they can deposit it, make payments, borrow, exchange, invest and hedge it.

Q: How will the bank ride on the rise of the Chinese currency?

A: We want to be among the top three players for yuan trading. On the front of offshore trading, we want to be among the top three among global banks, including Hong Kong and London. For the onshore market, it is unlikely for us to compete with Chinese banks like Industrial and Commercial Bank, but we are gearing up to be among the top three players among foreign banks in China.

Q: What would you suggest to advance the yuan as a global currency? City of London has said it plan to become an offshore yuan center, joining the competition with Hong Kong and Singapore. What's your view for London to make it?

A: I think it would be healthy for the Bank of England to sign currency swap deal with the People's Bank of China. It's the oil that makes the engine work. This swap line would effectively be used by the Bank of England to inject yuan-backed liquidity in exchange for sterling, though not as a facility to defend the yuan should it come under pressure. Neither central bank has yet hinted at such a move and the BOE might find it tricky to extend its mandate to such a role. Nevertheless, it would be a huge boost to market confidence and a major milestone on London's journey to becoming a yuan centre.

I myself work with the UK Treasury, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the City of London to push forward the globalization of the Chinese yuan because we believe it holds big potential as a reserve currency.

Q: Who are your main competitors? And what's your advantage?

A: We are competing with banks like HSBC and Standard Chartered. We have a high level of commitment from senior management. We also have the broadest business lines among foreign banks in China - banking, securities, leasing and futures. It shows our China commitment and our ability to expand business.

Q: How does China figure in RBS's Asian strategy? Can you share with us the profit and revenue contributions the China market makes to RBS Asia?

A: China and India are of huge significance to us in Asia. I flew to Chinese mainland four times in the past six weeks to make sure business is steady here. I can't give you the China contribution figures, but I can tell you that Asia accounted for about 15 percent to 17 percent of our global business.

Q: How's the profitability of RBS's whole China business, including banking, securities, futures and leasing? Can you share with us that data?

A: I can't give you the specific figures on our China business because we don't give breakdowns of country numbers. But I can assure you that our China business delivers good profits. As a business, we seek profits and returns to shareholders.

Q: Are you satisfied with the performance of RBS's China franchise?

A: Yes, I think the China business now is satisfactory.

Q: To penetrate deeper into China, do you have any acquisition plans?

A: No. We will keep on with our existing franchise, which already covers the broadest lines among foreign banks in China. We have a sharp strategy: We don't do retail or small business finance. We focus on wholesale and investment banking and expand if market conditions demand.

Q: So, recruitment is still planned for the China market?

A: Yes. As long as there is new market demand, we will add more headcount to cater to the needs of clients and the market.

Q: How will you assure your home market that new jobs added overseas will help deliver profits while the bank is announcing hefty jobs cuts in Britain?

A: It's natural for business to follow where business is. As we are highly client-oriented, we go to where our clients go - as long as we can make profits and shareholders can benefit from that.