Finance
NatWest's 16-year journey from crisis bailout to reprivatisation
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 31, 2025
3 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on May 31, 2025
3 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
NatWest's 16-year journey from a 2008 government bailout to full reprivatisation in 2023 highlights its transformation and challenges.
By Lawrence White
LONDON (Reuters) -The bank formerly known as RBS was a symbol of pre-global financial crisis era excess when the sprawling lender, riddled with toxic assets, was bailed out by Britain's government in 2008.
On Friday it returned to full private ownership.
The UK bank now known as NatWest has endured an arduous route. Here is a look at its journey:
April 3, 2007 - An RBS-led consortium wins a bidding war for Dutch bank ABN AMRO with a 70-billion-euro ($79.42 billion)offer, making it the biggest banking takeover in history. The takeover comes just before markets slump as the subprime credit crisis takes hold.
April 2008 - RBS announces a record 12-billion-pound ($16.19 billion) rights issue to cover a potential 5.9-billion-pound writedown on the value of its toxic assets.
October/November 2008 - Britain is forced to pump 20 billion pounds into the lender to shore up its capital position. Stephen Hester is named to replace Fred Goodwin as CEO. The UK government injects a further 25 billion pounds in January 2009, leaving it with an approximate 82% stake.
December 2010 - Goodwin and other RBS executives during the financial crisis escape punishment by the UK Financial Services Authority despite what the regulator describes as a "series of bad decisions" in 2007 and 2008.
December 2011 - The FSA publishes its report, begun in 2009, into RBS's near failure. The report blames RBS's "poor management decisions" and flaws within the FSA itself.
September 2012 - RBS increases its target for job cuts at its investment banking business to 3,800 by the end of 2013. Hester has already axed 34,000 jobs since arriving at RBS.
February 2013 - RBS is fined $612 million for its role in the manipulation of the London interbank offered rate (Libor) and other global benchmark rates.
August 2013 - New Zealand-born Ross McEwan is appointed CEO, inaugurating a decade of restructuring as RBS slashes its investment bank, sells off crisis-era bad assets and grapples with lawsuits arising from its conduct during that period.
July 2017 - RBS reaches 835 million pound settlement with the European Commission to help fund competition in Britain's banking sector, marking an end to its state aid commitments linked to its bailout.
October 2018 - RBS pays its first dividend since the crisis as its recovery continues.
April 2019 - McEwan announces surprise resignation on the eve of the bank's annual shareholder meeting, eventually replaced by Alison Rose.
July 2020 - RBS rebrands as NatWest, seeking to distance itself from a brand tainted by years of negative headlines and in particular failings in its handling of small businesses in its Global Restructuring Group between 2007 and 2012.
July 2023 - CEO Rose resigns after a "serious error of judgment" in discussing former Brexit party leader Nigel Farage's relationship with the bank with a journalist. Farage had said his account had been closed because of his political views.
October 2023 - British watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority says it identified potential "regulatory breaches" in NatWest's handling of a decision to close Farage's accounts.
February 2024 - NatWest confirms Paul Thwaite as its permanent chief executive after serving on an interim basis since July 2023.
May 2024 - The government scraps a public share sale plan for NatWest after then UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak calls a general election.
($1 = 0.8814 euros)
($1 = 0.7412 pounds)
(Reporting by Lawrence White; Editing by Susan Fenton)
NatWest, formerly known as RBS, was bailed out by the UK government during the global financial crisis due to its exposure to toxic assets.
NatWest returned to full private ownership on a recent Friday, marking the end of its 16-year journey since the bailout.
In July 2020, RBS rebranded itself as NatWest to distance from its troubled past and negative headlines.
Ross McEwan served as the CEO of NatWest before Alison Rose took over in April 2019.
In October 2023, the Financial Conduct Authority identified potential regulatory breaches in NatWest's handling of the decision to close Nigel Farage's accounts.
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