The lender, formerly known as the Royal Bank of Scotland, announced the την 1.2bn share purchase by the Treasury on Monday. It will allow taxpayers to hold a 48.1% stake in NatWest, with most of the shares being sold at a much lower price than the Gordon Brown government intervened to bail out the hit bank in October 2008. Officials said they had sold 550 million shares at 220.5p each. The Treasury Department has previously stated that it will have to sell shares at 400p to offset its investment, which means it has lost billions. The government eventually owned more than 80% of the bank as part of a 45 45.5 billion bailout. RBS, which once had the largest balance sheet of any bank in the world, was founded after expanding rapidly at the turn of the century and was trapped in the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States. John Glen, Treasury Secretary at the Treasury, said: “This sale means that the government is no longer the majority owner of the NatWest Group and is therefore an important milestone in our plan to return the bank to the private sector. “We will continue to prioritize providing value for money to taxpayers as we promote this plan.” The government has accelerated NatWest sales in recent months by announcing a “trading plan” last summer under which Morgan Stanley manages the sales process. The Wall Street bank was instructed to sell shares only at a price that “offers value for money to the taxpayer.” Credit Suisse analysts estimate that the UK will sell about 8.8% of NatWest shares as part of the plan, meaning the Treasury will be left with a share of just under 45%. The government remains NatWest’s largest shareholder to some extent. The next largest investor is a pension fund of the Norwegian central bank, which holds 3.4%, according to data from Bloomberg.
RBS Betting
In 2007, RBS was the largest bank in the world, acquiring the Dutch ABN Amro for 49 49 billion. Twelve months later the bank was in rupture, receiving emergency funding before the full bailout. A second bailout allowed the government to own 84% of the bank at a cost of 46 46 billion and an average of 500% per share. RBS lost a record 24 24 billion in 2008. At the time of the completion of the bailout in 2009, Alistair Darling, then Chancellor, said, despite the majority stake, “the institution will remain a private stock exchange company. “This will offer potential long-term gains for the taxpayer and an easier return to full commercial ownership when the shares are sold and the revenue is returned to the taxpayer.”
What has happened since then?
August 2015: George Osborne, then Chancellor, announces the first sale of 2, 2.1 billion of RBS. The share price of 330 BC. represents a loss of 1 1 billion from the bailout price, reducing the government’s shares just below 73% of the bank. Labor is accusing Mr Osborne of “selling fire” the shares, which have not been traded at a higher price than the sale. June 2018: A second sale of shares worth 2.5 billion pounds, which represents a larger loss at a price of 271 p.m. per share, reduces the percentage of the Ministry of Finance to 62.4% October 2018: RBS pays its first dividend after the crash July 2020: RBS Group renamed NatWest during a break from its plaid past March 2021: Chancellor Rishi Sunak sets out a plan to sell the full stake by 2025-26. RBS buys £ 1.1 billion shares from the Government at 190.5% each, raising the remaining share to 59.8%. May 2021: Another 1 1.1 billion shares are sold to institutional investors for 190 pp per share, raising the taxpayer to just under 55% of the property. June 2022: The government instructs Morgan Stanley to drop shares in the market to further reduce its share, the same mechanism that helped sell the shares to Lloyds Banking Group when the rescued institution was also returned to individuals. March 2022: The sale of a £ 1.2 billion share, at a share price of 220.5 per year, reduces the government’s share from 50.6 to 48.1%.
