Few large deals have gone by so far in August without the involvement of UBS, which continued a fine run of form this week after being appointed as sole financial adviser to Royal Bank of Scotland on the EU-enforced sale of 318 branches to Santander for £1.65bn (€2bn).

UBS is also advising the part-nationalised bank on the divestment of payments processing business WorldPay. Confirmation of a £2bn-plus sale to private equity groups Bain Capital and Advent International is expected later today.