Sir Fred Goodwin, chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, said he was not “actively pursuing” Bank of America in an attempt to restart stalled negotiations over the future of LaSalle, the US subsidiary of ABN Amro.

The dispute over LaSalle, which Bank of America has agreed to buy for $21bn (£10.5bn), is a key hurdle for the RBS-consortium in its efforts to complete an audacious €71bn (£48bn) break-up bid for ABN Amro.