During the 2008 and 2009 financial crisis UK tax payers acquired a majority stake in RBS after a £45.5 billion government bailout that saved the high street bank from collapse.

In a company announcement yesterday, the bank revealed that the public shareholding had been reduced from 43.97% to 42.95%.

In March 2022, the government reduced its holdings in the bank, selling £1.2bn of shares back to NatWest.

The share sale returned the bank to private ownership, cutting the Government stake from 50.6% to 48.1%.