Royal Bank is shifting its Bermuda operations to the Cayman Islands, according to the Bermuda Sun.

The closure of the Bermuda operation will take place within six months, reports the newspaper. The global private banking office has a staff of three, including one Bermudian employee.

“In our continuing efforts to maximize long-term profitability of our business, a recent strategic review suggested we could serve our clients from other global private banking locations,” Graeme Harris, senior corporate communications advisor for RBC, told the Sun.

He said the bank has evaluated all of its international operations. It wants to lower its operating costs, and the Bermuda operation would have required an increase in capital expenditure. “The closing of our global private banking office in Bermuda with the transfer of client relationships to other jurisdictions will save us the expense of maintaining a separate office and compliance structure in the Caribbean region where we have other operations with the capacity to serve these clients and meet their growing expectations for international integrated financial solutions.”

Commenting on the pending closure, Finance Minister Eugene Cox said, “Principals of the Royal Bank of Canada met with me to discuss their decision and to confirm that it was based solely on the need to consolidate. Royal Trust was one of the first international trust companies to set up in Bermuda in the early 1990s and I am sorry to see them leave.”