Royal Bank of Canada completes acquisition of global investor services business

Top 10 global custodian being rebranded RBC Investor Services

TORONTO, July 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Royal Bank of Canada (RY on TSX and NYSE) today announced it has completed the acquisition of the 50 per cent stake of RBC Dexia Investor Services Limited (RBC Dexia) that RBC did not already own from Banque Internationale à Luxembourg S.A. (BIL). With this transaction, RBC becomes the sole owner of the top 10 global custodian, which is being rebranded RBC Investor Services.

"The industry fundamentals are very attractive and this business is positioned for solid long-term growth," said Jim Westlake, Group Head, International Banking and Insurance, RBC. "We look forward to building on our strong relationships with clients in our goal to become the premier provider of investor services worldwide."

"We are excited about full ownership by RBC and have been encouraged by the response from our clients around the world since the announcement of this transaction in April," said José Placido, Chief Executive Officer, RBC Investor Services. "Our clients will benefit from RBC's financial strength, complementary capabilities through wealth management and capital markets, and commitment to growth."

RBC Investor Services has established itself as a top 10 global custodian with particular strength in client service excellence and outstanding execution. Results for RBC Investor Services will continue to be included within RBC's International Banking segment, which also includes results from RBC's Caribbean banking and U.S. cross-border banking businesses.

About RBC Investor Services

RBC Investor Services Limited and its subsidiaries will operate under the brand RBC Investor Services. The business is a premier provider of investor services to asset managers, financial institutions and other institutional investors worldwide. Our unique approach to domestic and cross-border solutions, combined with award-winning client service and the expertise of 5,500 professionals in 15 markets, helps our clients achieve their ambitions.

RBC Investor Services ranks among the world's top 10 global custodians with €2.1 trillion (C$2.8 trillion) in client assets under administration and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada, one of the largest and most financially sound banks in the world.

About RBC

Royal Bank of Canada (RY on TSX and NYSE) and its subsidiaries operate under the master brand name RBC. We are Canada's largest bank as measured by assets and market capitalization, and among the largest banks in the world, based on market capitalization. We are one of North America's leading diversified financial services companies, and provide personal and commercial banking, wealth management services, insurance, corporate and investment banking and investor services on a global basis. We employ approximately 80,000 full- and part-time employees who serve more than 15 million personal, business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada, the U.S. and 51 other countries. For more information, please visit rbc.com.

CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements contained in this press release may be deemed to be forward-looking statements under certain securities laws, including the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and any applicable Canadian securities legislation. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the acquisition by Royal Bank of Canada of the other 50 per cent stake in RBC Dexia. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as "believe", "expect", "foresee", "forecast", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "goal", "plan" and "project" and similar expressions of future or conditional verbs such as "will", "may", "should", "could", or "would".

By their very nature, forward-looking statements require us to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, which give rise to the possibility that our predictions, forecasts, projections, expectations or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that our assumptions may not be correct and that other forward-looking statements, including statements about the acquisition by Royal Bank of Canada of the other 50 per cent stake in RBC Dexia will not be achieved. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these statements as a number of risk factors could cause our actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors - many of which are beyond our control and the effects of which are difficult to predict - include: the possibility that the anticipated benefits of the transaction are not realized as a result of such things as the strength of the economy and competitive factors in the areas where RBC Dexia does business; the impact of changes in the laws and regulations; judicial or regulatory judgments and legal proceedings; credit, market, operational, and liquidity and funding risks, and other risks discussed in the Risk management sections of our 2011 Annual Report and our Q2 2012 Report to Shareholders; general business, economic and financial market conditions in Canada, the United States and certain other countries in which we conduct business, including the effects of the European sovereign debt crisis; the effects of changes in government fiscal, monetary and other policies; the effects of competition in the markets in which we operate; our ability to attract and retain employees; the accuracy and completeness of information concerning our clients and counterparties; our ability to successfully execute our strategies and to complete and integrate strategic acquisitions and joint ventures successfully; and development and integration of our distribution networks. We caution that the foregoing list of risk factors is not exhaustive and other factors could also adversely affect our results. Additional information about these and other factors can be found in our Q2 2012 Report to Shareholders and 2011 Annual Report.

Except as required by law, we do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement contained in this press release.

SOURCE RBC