On 5 August 2016, RBS published details of the group's half-yearly financial results, revealing a £2.05 billion loss for the first half of 2016. RBS Group blamed historically low interest rates and the fallout from the UK's 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum with uncertainties caused by the pro-Brexit result. These result indicated, according to RBS, that Williams &amp; Glyn would not prosper as an independent bank. Instead, Reuters reported that Santander UK was interested in buying the unit outright, although Santander had abandoned talks in September 2016. CYBG plc, owner of Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank, confirmed in October 2016 that it had made what it described as a "preliminary non-binding proposal" for the unit. In the same month RBS confirmed that it would be unable to sell Williams &amp; Glyn by the end of 2017, potentially giving the European Commission the right to take control of the sales process. By December 2016, both Santander and CYBG had scaled back their bids, citing issues with integrating the six NatWest branches in Scotland, and with integrating large corporate customers. RBS instead started exploring selling other assets or closing branches that it could not sell thus requiring customers based at those branches to find alternative banking arrangements.