The UK’s new finance minister Rachel Reeves said on Monday she had scrapped the previous government’s plan to sell shares in Natwest Group to the general public as it would be too costly for the taxpayer.
The Labour government’s Reeves said the UK still intends to fully exit its shareholding of the bank formerly called Royal Bank of Scotland by 2025-26 — but she said that a retail share offer would mean having to offer the public discounts worth hundreds of millions of pounds.
“It would therefore not represent value for money, and it will not go ahead,” Reeves said.
NatWest said earlier this month that the UK government’s stake in it fell below 20%, moving the bank closer to full private ownership after its state bailout during the 2008 financial crisis.
The previous Conservative government had suggested a share sale to the public to speed up the process before it lost in the July general election.