RBC MAKES ACQUISITION IN ASIAN MARKET

Strategic move expands wealth management presence in key region

HONG KONG, Nov. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Royal Bank of Canada (RY on TSX and NYSE), announced the closing of its acquisition of the wealth management business of Fortis Wealth Management Hong Kong Limited, consisting of approximately 50 client-facing professionals. Fortis Wealth Management Hong Kong Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fortis Bank S.A./N.V.

The acquisition follows RBC Wealth Management's announcement in September that it will be increasingly focused on emerging, high growth markets such as Asia.

"Fortis Bank's Hong Kong operations are a strong strategic and cultural fit for RBC Wealth Management's international platform and this acquisition expands our presence in Asia, a market that we have identified as a key priority," said Michael Lagopoulos, deputy chairman, RBC Wealth Management. "Moreover, RBC is a leading provider of banking and wealth management services to a substantial Asian population in Canada, which totals more than one million people, and we see significant opportunities to capitalize on the increasing flow of trade and immigration between the regions."

Frank Mu, CEO of RBC Wealth Management, Asia, added: "The acquisition of Fortis Wealth Management Hong Kong Limited's staff and client book reflects RBC Wealth Management's commitment to enhancing our operations in Asia, both organically and through acquisition. We will be looking to hire a number of client-facing professionals over the coming months to support our growing franchise."

"As a top 10 global wealth manager, we see a tremendous opportunity for growth in Asia and emerging markets," said George Lewis, group head of RBC Wealth Management. "This acquisition will enable us to bring the best of RBC and RBC Wealth Management to more clients as we continue to expand internationally."

RBC now employs approximately 550 people in the Asia-Pacific region across its Wealth Management and Capital Markets businesses, in Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Brunei, Beijing and Sydney. RBC plans to continue growing its global footprint over the next five years.

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 transaction processing services on a global basis. We employ approximately 78,000 full- and part-time employees who serve close to 18 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.

About RBC Wealth Management
The international arm of RBC Wealth Management services over 35,000 high net worth individuals and institutions through more than 30 offices in the British Isles, Continental Europe, Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Latin America and North America. RBC Wealth Management provides integrated and diversified international wealth management expertise and solutions, asset management and trust services to high net worth individuals and to corporate and institutional clients. Services provided by RBC Wealth Management consultants, advisors, private bankers and trust officers include trust and estate planning, tax advice, discretionary investment management and investment advisory services, structured solutions, banking, lending and global custody. For more information, please visit www.rbcwminternational.com.

RBC Wealth Management directly serves affluent and high net worth clients in Canada, the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia. RBC Wealth Management provides integrated and diversified international wealth management expertise and solutions, asset management and trust services to high net worth individuals and to corporate and institutional clients. Services provided by RBC Wealth Management consultants, advisors, private bankers and trust officers include trust and estate planning, tax advice, discretionary investment management and investment advisory services, structured solutions, banking, lending and global custody. RBC Wealth Management has more than C$500 billion of assets under administration, over C$250 billion of assets under management and more than 4,300 financial consultants, advisors, private bankers and trust officers.

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 harbour" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and in any applicable Canadian securities legislation, and Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) intends that such forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbour created thereby.

These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the acquisition of the wealth management business of Fortis Wealth Management Hong Kong Limited ("Fortis") by RBC. 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 and other forward-looking information, including statements about the acquisition of the wealth management business of Fortis by RBC, will not prove to be accurate or that our assumptions may not be correct. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these statements as a number of important factors could cause our actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, 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 the wealth management business of Fortis does business, the impact of changes in the laws and regulations regulating financial services and enforcement thereof (including banking, insurance and securities); judicial judgments and legal proceedings; reputational risks, and other factors that may affect future results of RBC including changes in trade policies, timely development and introduction of new products and services, changes in tax laws, and technological and regulatory changes. We caution that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. Additional information about these and other factors can be found in our Q3 2010 Report to Shareholders and 2009 Annual Report.

Except as required by law, RBC assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained in this press release.

SOURCE RBC