The chairman of NatWest yesterday hailed a ‘symbolic moment’ as the banking giant prepares to return to full private ownership for the first time since a Government bailout during the 2008 financial crisis.
Rick Haythornthwaite said the FTSE 100 group was ‘incredibly grateful’ to the UK taxpayer for stepping in to save the bank from collapse, saying it had ‘fundamentally changed’ over the last 17 years.
The Government ended up owning as much as 84 per cent of NatWest, then known as Royal Bank of Scotland Group, following multiple bailouts during the crisis, which cost the taxpayer more than £45billion.
Over the years, the Treasury has been steadily selling its holding, falling below 50 per cent ownership in 2022.
The process has been accelerated over the last three years, with the Government’s stake dropping to below 40 per cent in 2023, and earlier this month it fell to less than 3 per cent. It now plans to reach zero by July.
‘We are on the verge of a return to full private ownership. This will be a symbolic moment, marking a new, forward-looking chapter in our story,’ Haythornthwaite told investors at the annual meeting in Edinburgh yesterday.
Thanks: Natwest chairman Rick Haythornthwaite (pictured) said the banking giant was ‘incredibly grateful’ to taxpayers for stepping in to save the it from collapse
Chief executive Paul Thwaite said the Government’s exit would allow the UK to ‘turn the page on the global financial crisis’.
‘I am sincerely grateful to the UK taxpayer. Having long been defined by our past, we can look forward with confidence and optimism about the opportunities ahead, without forgetting the lessons of the financial crisis,’ he added.
It came as investors backed all the measures put to a vote at the annual meeting, including a £7.8million pay packet for Thwaite, who took over as chief executive in 2023 – up from £4.9million a year earlier.
It comes as the sector takes advantage of a decision by regulators to lift the cap on bankers’ bonuses, with many banks cutting the base salary of their senior executives in exchange for larger awards for good performance.
Haythornthwaite told reporters that NatWest had been ‘very measured’ in its changes, noting that other banks had ‘gone further’.
‘Let’s not open up floodgates of risk exposure and forget lessons of previous years. Now we don’t think we’re close to testing the limits,’ he added.
NatWest shares were up 3.7 per cent, or 16.8p, at 476.5p.
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This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .