Treasury to dispose of ultimate shares in bailed-out NatWest Group

The federal government is making ready to promote the ultimate publicly owned shares in NatWest Group on Friday, drawing a line beneath one of many world’s greatest financial institution bailouts after almost 17 years.

Sky Information understands that the Treasury is making ready to dump its remaining stake – which is all the way down to roughly 0.1% – within the coming hours, with a public assertion doubtless both afterward Friday or on Monday morning.

Sources cautioned that the timings had been nonetheless topic to alter.

The ultimate disposal of a stake which at one level represented greater than 80% of NatWest’s share capital has been anticipated for weeks.

Affirmation of the sale of the Treasury’s ultimate curiosity in NatWest will come nearly 17 years after the then chancellor, Lord Darling, performed what RBS’s boss on the time, Fred Goodwin, labelled “a drive-by taking pictures”.

Complete proceeds from a authorities buying and selling plan launched in 2021 to drip-feed NatWest inventory into the market have to date reached about £13bn, with the ultimate tally prone to be about £13.2bn.

As well as, institutional share gross sales and direct buybacks by NatWest of government-held inventory have yielded an additional £11.5bn.

Dividend funds to the Treasury throughout its possession have totalled £4.9bn, whereas charges and different funds have generated one other £5.6bn.

In combination, meaning complete proceeds from NatWest since 2008 are anticipated to hit £35.3bn.

Underneath Rick Haythornthwaite and Paul Thwaite, now the financial institution’s chairman and chief government respectively, NatWest is now targeted on driving development throughout its enterprise.

It lately tabled an £11bn bid to purchase Santander UK, based on the Monetary Instances, though no talks are ongoing.

Mr Thwaite changed Dame Alison Rose, who left amid the disaster sparked by the debanking scandal involving Nigel Farage, the Reform UK chief.

Sky Information lately revealed that the financial institution and Mr Farage had reached an undisclosed settlement.

In the course of the first 5 years of NatWest’s interval in majority state possession, the financial institution was run by Sir Stephen Hester, now the chairman of easyJet.

Sir Stephen stepped down amid tensions with the then chancellor, George Osborne, about how RBS – because it them was – must be run.

Lloyds Banking Group was additionally in partial state possession for years, though taxpayers reaped a web acquire of about £900m from that interval.

Different lenders nationalised in the course of the disaster included Bradford & Bingley, the majority of which was bought to Santander UK, and Northern Rock, a part of which was bought to Virgin Cash – which in flip has been acquired by Nationwide.

The Treasury and NatWest declined to remark.