The struggling Royal Bank of Scotland is trying to tamp down the latest rumors that it will sell its US subsidiary, Citizens Financial Group, to raise capital, insisting that it plans to hold on to the Providence-based bank.

Speculation that Royal Bank of Scotland might sell Citizens has surfaced periodically in recent years, as the British bank has tried to recover from steep losses during the financial crisis that led to its takeover by the British government. Media reports in the United Kingdom and the United States have recently raised that possibility of a sale again.