NatWest returns to full private ownership 17 years after £46bn UK bailout

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The UK government sold its last share in Natwitist, as the bank has completely returned to special hands after 17 years of rescue of 46 billion pounds at the height of the financial crisis.

The final sale by the government, which acquired 84 percent stake in what was then Royal Scotland Bank through two rescue financing in 2008 and 2009, when Natwitist’s shares this month returned to the highest rescue price for the first time since 2011.

The government has accelerated the sale of Natwitist shares in recent months. Its share fell to less than 1 percent earlier this month, a decrease from 38 percent in December 2023.

RBS’s taxpayer rescue was one of the world’s largest rescue operations and a crucial moment for the financial crisis in the United Kingdom, as it put a big burden on the public portfolio and nurtured discontent against bankers.

The Treasury received 35 billion pounds through sales of stocks, distributions and fees – less than 10.5 billion pounds, which prompted to save the bank, after it accepted during the past decade that it will never recover the full cost.

“For nearly two decades, the government intervened at the time to protect millions of savers and companies from the consequences of the RBS collapse,” said UK Adviser Rachel Reeves. “This was the right decision and then securing the economy, and Natest’s return to private ownership converts the page to an important separation in the history of this country.”

The president of Natwitist Rick Heathornette said that the bank was “very grateful to the government – and the UK taxpayers – for their intervention and support.”

He added: “At a time of the global crisis, this intervention has settled our banking system, and thus our economy; protecting millions of savers, homeowners and companies.”

RBS, which was renamed NatWest in 2020, collapsed, a year after the Dutch Bank ABN ARO purchased in a 49 billion pounds of pounds that led to the blocking of the lender with toxic securities backed by mortgage.

The scope of the crisis and subsequent governmental property necessitated a comprehensive reform of the bank’s strategy, which reduced the RBS from the world’s largest bank by assets to the local lender.

Almost all the bank’s income was created in the United Kingdom in 2024, compared to 62 percent in 2007.

The UK government was much faster to return the Lloyds Banking Group group to special hands after saving the era of crises of 20.3 billion pounds.

Unlike Natwst, this activation has achieved returning to taxpayers. The government completely left Lloyds in 2017, after recovering all the rescue costs in addition to additional 900 million pounds.

Although Natwitist returned to profitability in 2017 and regained its profits the following year, the government has so far waited to leave the bank completely due to a mixture of political uncertainty and a long period of very low interest rates that hindered the prices of European banks.

NatWest shares rose about 70 percent last year, as the highest interest rates have regained European banking shares in their favor with investors.

The Treasury has briefly suspended its sale due to market turmoil after the tariffs of US President Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the details, when the bank’s share price decreased to the minimum price that the government was ready for sale.

The government’s exit can pave the way for Natwitist to adopt a more aggressive strategy because the bank will be able to spend more frequently cash than by buying shares from the government.

Paul Thaouet, the CEO who has managed the bank since 2023, indicated his desire to perform acquisitions. The Financial Times previously reported that Santander rejected an offer of 11 billion pounds from Natwitist to the United Kingdom’s retail bank earlier this year.