Mark Standish, former co-chief executive of Royal Bank of Canada's RBC Capital Markets division, appeared to confirm on his LinkedIn page that the division is planning to spin off its New York-based proprietary trading business into a stand-alone hedge fund.

"I am currently working as a consultant to RBC on the spin out of the New York-based Proprietary Trading Business in compliance with the Volcker rule. Subject to various approvals etc., the new hedge fund is targeted to launch around year end," Standish said on the professional social-networking site.