News that a third of RBS Coutts Singapore staff have resigned en masse is a positive sign that confidence is returning to the market, according to the managing director of international banking and finance recruiter Selby Jennings

According to a report in the Financial Times, 70 staff, including 20 managers and 50 support staff, left the bank in the Singapore office. RBS Coutts confirmed the resignations, but said they only amounted to 15% of its regional headcount.

Adam Buck told Recruiter: “The fact that a third of the bank’s staff have resigned is a sign of more confidence in the market, as people don’t tend to resign unless there is an opportunity elsewhere.”

Buck said he would be surprised if it didn’t turn out to be a team move, with many of the 70 or so moving to another bank. Buck said he suspected the bank would already have signed up a number of agencies to help replace the staff that had left.