Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves has scrapped the retail sale of the government’s shares in NatWest.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Reeves said: “The previous government [had] plans for a retail sale of NatWest shares. We intend to fully exit our shareholding in NatWest by 2025-26 but having considered advice, I have concluded that a retail share sale offer would involve significant discounts that could cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds.
“It would therefore not represent value for money, and it will not go ahead. It is a bad use of taxpayers’ money, and we will not do it.”
In the government’s public spending audit published following Reeves’ speech, it said it was important to ensure value for money when disposing of assets.
The government said it intended to fully exit its shareholding in NatWest and resolve “one of the last remaining legacy issues from the financial crisis”. However, it said this needed to be done in a way which delivered value for money for taxpayers.
The audit said: “Instead, the government will continue to use existing disposal methods to deliver value for money sales and expects a full exit to be achieved by 2025-26, subject to market conditions. This will secure the best outcome for the taxpayer and wider public services.”
At the Spring Statement earlier this year, former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said a retail sale would be held to return NatWest to full private ownership.
Earlier this month, the government’s holding in NatWest fell below 20%, the first time it held a minority stake in the bank since 2008.
The state injected £45.5bn into NatWest’s parent company the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) at the height of the global financial crisis between October 2008 and December 2009.
It became the majority stakeholder of RBS in November 2008 with a 58% stake. In December 2009, this was increased to 84.9% resulting in total economic ownership.
Reeves also announced that the Autumn Budget would be held on 30 October, where the government would set out its fiscal plans.
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
Follow her on Twitter at @ShekinaMS
