Nearly a decade and a half since stepping in to save the Royal Bank of Scotland Group during the financial crisis, the UK Government has ceded control for the first time, after selling off shares.
The Treasury said it has sold £1.2bn worth of shares in NatWest Group - which RBS rebranded to in 2020 - taking its stake to less than 50%.
Economic secretary to the Treasury John Glen said: “This sale means that the government is no longer the majority owner of NatWest Group and is therefore an important landmark in our plan to return the bank to the private sector.
“We will continue to prioritise delivering value for money for the taxpayer as we take forward this plan.”
In 2008, the UK Government started to build a stake in the group following the financial crash, which had left it teetering on the brink of collapse.
The initial investment, which saw Westminster owning 57% of the bank, was extended a couple of times, before peaking at 84% in 2009.
The Treasury has been selling off its stake since 2015, and the latest sale takes its ownership from 50.6% to 48.1%.
NatWest said the latest deal saw it buying 550 million shares at around £2.21 each.
Group chief executive Alison Rose said: “We believe this transaction to be a good use of capital for the bank and our shareholders.
“Reducing government ownership below 50% is an important milestone for NatWest Group and a further demonstration of the progress we are making as we continue to deliver for our customers and shareholders.”
The process of selling off NatWest shares is likely to continue for some time to come, and has already taken considerably longer than the sell-off of Lloyds.
The UK Government’s stake in Lloyds Bank, which hit more than 43% following the financial crash, was finally totally unwound in 2017.
The government was handed its shares in the banks in 2008 after announcing a £37bn injection of capital into the sector.
Then prime minister Gordon Brown was clear at the time that it was not an attempt to nationalise the banks, but that they would be sold back “at the right time”.
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