The UK government is on the verge of completing its exit from NatWest, nearly 16 years after rescuing the bank during the 2008–09 financial crisis. A stock exchange filing on Thursday revealed that the Treasury’s stake in the FTSE 100 lender has fallen below 1% — a major milestone in the long process of returning the bank to full private ownership.
According to the filing, the government now holds just 0.9% of NatWest, down from 1.98% at the end of April. The reduction is the result of a gradual sell-down strategy, launched in 2021, which has quietly released shares into the market to avoid disruptions. Officials expect the final shares to be sold within weeks.
NatWest, formerly Royal Bank of Scotland Group, was one of the most prominent casualties of the global financial crisis. In 2008, it was bailed out with a £45.5 billion capital injection, leaving taxpayers with an 84% stake in the bank. At the time, the rescue symbolised the broader crisis engulfing Britain’s banking sector.
While the government has been reducing its stake since 2015 — beginning with the first sale under then-Chancellor George Osborne — the process has incurred losses for the taxpayer. The average bailout price per share was 502p, while NatWest shares closed at 498p on Thursday, just shy of breaking even.
Nevertheless, the Treasury’s exit marks the final chapter in the UK’s sweeping financial rescue programme, which also included bailouts of Lloyds Banking Group, Northern Rock, and Bradford & Bingley. Lloyds was fully returned to the private sector in 2017.
A NatWest spokesperson welcomed the development, saying, “Returning the bank to full private ownership is an ambition we share with the government, and one that we believe is in the interests of all our shareholders.”
Since taking over as CEO, Paul Thwaite has refocused NatWest’s strategy, pursuing growth through acquisitions such as most of Sainsbury’s banking business and a £2.5 billion mortgage portfolio from Metro Bank. However, a bid to acquire Santander’s UK high street operations was ultimately unsuccessful.
The move toward full privatisation closes a pivotal and often controversial chapter in the UK’s financial history. It also signals a new era for NatWest, which must now demonstrate it can grow and compete in a fully privatised landscape — without the support of the state that once kept it afloat.
