A commodities trading arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group in Stamford, which is in the process of offloading its assets, is shedding 150 jobs.
The layoffs at RBS Sempra Commodities, which is a joint venture between Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC and Sempra Energy, began January 7 and will continue throughout the rest of the year, according to a regulatory filing made by the company to the state Department of Labor.
The layoffs are a result of RBS Group selling off Sempra’s assets, which was part of an agreement RBS made with the European Commission in 2008 in exchange for a bailout.
RBS Group is about 84 percent owned by the British government, which stepped in to help the bank during the height of the financial crisis.
RBS Sempra Commodities employed about 550 people, but many of those workers have found jobs with acquiring firms.
Société Générale, for example, which recently agreed to purchase North American power and natural-gas assets from RBS Sempra Commodities, hired 130 Sempra employees.
 The RBS Group is the parent company to The Royal Bank of Scotland, which has its North American headquarters in Stamford.
