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The government has announced plans to sell a 7.7% stake in Royal Bank of Scotland.

The latest sale of 925 million shares, expected to raise £2.6bn, will reduce its holding in RBS from 70.1% to 62.4%.

The bank has been majority owned by the government since it was bailed out to the tune of £45bn at the height of the financial crisis in November 2008.

The government owns 8.4 billion shares in RBS, which closed on Monday at 281.1p, valuing the bank at £33.8bn.

The disposal will take place this week in a process managed by investment banks Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, according to UK Government Investments, which manages taxpayers' RBS stake.

The government has said it intends to sell £15bn worth of RBS shares by 2023.

Labour's shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, criticised the government's sale plans, saying there was "no economic justification" for selling the shares.

"There should be no sales of RBS shares, full stop. But particularly with such a large loss to the taxpayers who bailed out the bank," he said.

'Normal bank'

Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The RBS share price has bounced back from its slump after the EU referendum, but the taxpayer's still going to be significantly out of pocket as the government sells down its stake.

"The RBS bailout was necessary to maintain financial stability, but the cost of that intervention is now starting to emerge."

He added: "RBS has cleared several obstacles which have now unblocked the road to re-privatisation, in particular settling claims for mis-selling mortgage-backed securities in the US.

"Today's share sale is good news for private investors in RBS, because it is a step towards becoming a normal bank again, though government sales may put downward pressure on the share price in the near term."

In February, the bank posted an annual profit of £752m - its first for a decade and a dramatic turnaround following a £6.95bn loss the previous year.

Last month, RBS announced it was closing 162 branches across England and Wales.

The closures follow existing plans to shut 52 bank branches in Scotland that serve rural communities and 197 NatWest branches.</s>UK government to sell $3.5B stake in Royal Bank of Scotland

LONDON (AP) — Britain's government says it intends to sell a 2.6 billion pound ($3.5 billion) part of its shareholding in taxpayer-owned Royal Bank of Scotland Group to institutional investors.

The decision comes only weeks after the bank, which was bailed out during the financial crisis, announced it had agreed to pay $4.9 billion to settle U.S. claims it misled investors who bought securities backed by risky mortgages in the run up to the 2008 financial crisis.

The tentative settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice marked a watershed moment for RBS, which was bailed out by British taxpayers after a series of acquisitions briefly made it the largest bank in the world before it collapsed a decade ago. The British government insisted that the U.S. claims had to be resolved before it could sell its stake in RBS.

UK Government Investments, which manages the government's stake in the lender, said it will sell approximately 925 million shares, equivalent to a 7.7 percent stake. At Monday's share price of about 281 pence each, it puts the value of the sale at 2.6 billion pounds.

That will reduce the government holding from about 70.1 percent to 62.4 percent.

The government sold 5.4 percent of the bank in 2015 for 330 pence each — far less than the 502 pence that the government paid for them. But the government has also expressed a wish to return the bank to private ownership.</s>The Government has announced that it will offload a £2.6 billion stake in Royal Bank of Scotland, a move that will see the taxpayer's stake in the lender reduced from 70.1% to 62.4%.

UK Government Investments, which manages the state's stake in the lender, said it will sell approximately 7.7%, or 925 million shares, to institutional investors.

It is the first time shares in RBS have been offloaded since 2015.

"UK Government Investments today advised the Chancellor it would be appropriate to conduct the second sale of the Government's shareholding in the Royal Bank of Scotland.

"The Chancellor agreed with that advice and has authorised the process to begin," the Treasury said in a statement.

RBS recently agreed a 4.9 billion US dollar (£3.6 billion) settlement with US regulators, which removed a major hurdle to the bank's return to private hands.

The Government hopes to sell £15 billion worth of shares by 2023, about two-thirds of its stake.

But it is facing a near-£26.2 billion loss on its holding, with the lender's shares languishing well below the average 502p share price paid during the crisis era bailout, at around 280p.

The Government bought its stake in the bank for £45 billion in 2008 as part of a bailout at the height of the financial crisis.

Only last week, RBS's outgoing finance chief Ewen Stevenson said the recent slump in European stocks - sparked in part by jitters over the rise of Eurosceptic parties in Italy - might be a cause for pause for the Government.

Earlier this year, RBS reported a bottom-line profit for the first time in a decade.</s>Britain's government says it intends to sell part of its stake in taxpayer-owned Royal Bank of Scotland to investors.

The decision comes only weeks after the bank, which was bailed out during the financial crisis, announced it had agreed to pay $4.9 billion to settle U.S. claims that it misled investors who bought securities backed by risky mortgages in the run up to the 2008 financial crisis.

That tentative settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice marked a watershed moment for RBS because the government insisted that the U.S. claims had to be resolved before it could sell its stake.

The government expects to sell about 925 million shares, equivalent to a 7.7 percent stake. That will reduce the government holding from about 70.1 percent to 62.4 percent.</s>The Government has announced it will offload 7.7% of shares in Royal Bank of Scotland, a move that will see the taxpayers’ stake reduced from 70.1% to 62.4%.

UK Government Investments, which manages the Government’s stake in the lender, said it will sell approximately 925 million shares to institutional investors.

The Treasury said: “UK Government Investments (UKGI) today (4 June 2018) advised the Chancellor it would be appropriate to conduct the second sale of the Government’s shareholding in the Royal Bank of Scotland. The Chancellor agreed with that advice and has authorised the process to begin.”</s>The British government has launched a sale of 925 million shares in Ulster Bank parent Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) for around £2.6bn (€2.9bn) as it seeks to return the bank to private hands, the government unit managing its stake said yesterday.

The British government has launched a sale of 925 million shares in Ulster Bank parent Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) for around £2.6bn (€2.9bn) as it seeks to return the bank to private hands, the government unit managing its stake said yesterday.

As with sales of stakes in bailed out Irish banks, the RBS sale will crystallise a loss for the UK government.

It rescued RBS in 2008 at an average price of 502p a share. Those shares closed at 281p each yesterday. UK taxpayers took a majority stake in RBS by pumping £45.5bn (€51.8bn) into the bank at the height of the financial crisis. About a third of the total rescue was used to prop up the bank's Ulster Bank arm, which was left carrying massive losses on boom era real estate, commercial property loans and mortgages after the crash.

The sale of a 7.7pc stake is being managed by Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, UK Government Investments, which manages the country's RBS holding, said. Ahead of the sale, UK finance minister Philip Hammond had said he wanted to re-start a gradual sell down of the government's 70pc stake in the bank some time before April 2019.

The government sold some shares in 2015 and took a £1.1bn (€1.25bn) loss. Buyers are likely to include funds that already hold some of the 30pc of the bank owned through the stock market.

The opposition Labour Party is opposed to re-privatisation of the UK bank. "All further sales of RBS shares should be halted, and the bank reorganised under public control," the party's John McDonnell said.</s>The government has announced plans to sell a 7.7% stake in Royal Bank of Scotland.

The latest sale of 925 million shares, expected to raise £2.6bn, will reduce its holding in RBS from 70.1% to 62.4%.

The bank has been majority owned by the government since it was bailed out to the tune of £45bn at the height of the financial crisis in November 2008.

The government owns 8.4 billion shares in RBS, which closed on Monday at 281.1p, valuing the bank at £33.8bn.

The disposal will take place this week in a process managed by investment banks Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, according to UK Government Investments, which manages taxpayers' RBS stake.

The government has said it intends to sell £15bn worth of RBS shares by 2023.

Labour has criticised the government's sale plans, saying there was "no economic justification" for selling the shares now.

The opposition points out that they are now worth close to half the price that was paid at the time of the bailout.

In February the bank posted an annual profit of £752m - its first for a decade and a dramatic turnaround following a £6.95bn loss the previous year.

Last month, RBS announced it was closing 162 branches across England and Wales.

The closures follow existing plans to shut 52 bank branches in Scotland that serve rural communities and 197 NatWest branches.</s>The UK government has announced that it will offload a £2.6 billion stake in Royal Bank of Scotland, a move that will see the taxpayer’s stake in the lender reduced from 70.1 per cent to 62.4 per cent.

UK Government Investments, which manages the state’s stake in the lender, said it will sell approximately 7.7 per cent, or 925 million shares, to institutional investors.

It is the first time shares in RBS have been offloaded since 2015.

“UK Government Investments today advised the Chancellor it would be appropriate to conduct the second sale of the Government’s shareholding in the Royal Bank of Scotland.

“The Chancellor agreed with that advice and has authorised the process to begin,” the Treasury said in a statement.

RBS recently agreed a $4.9bn (£3.6bn) settlement with US regulators, which removed a major hurdle to the bank’s return to private hands.

The government hopes to sell £15bn worth of shares by 2023, about two-thirds of its stake.

But it is facing a near-£26.2bn loss on its holding, with the lender’s shares languishing well below the average 502p share price paid during the crisis era bailout, at around 280p.

The government bought its stake in the bank for £45bn in 2008 as part of a bailout at the height of the financial crisis.

Only last week, RBS’s outgoing finance chief Ewen Stevenson said the recent slump in European stocks – sparked in part by jitters over the rise of Eurosceptic parties in Italy – might be a cause for pause for the government.

Earlier this year, RBS reported a bottom-line profit for the first time in a decade.

Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The RBS share price has bounced back from its slump after the EU referendum, but the taxpayer’s still going to be significantly out of pocket as the government sells down its stake.

“Few argue the RBS bailout was necessary to maintain financial stability, but the cost of that intervention is now starting to emerge.

“Today’s share sale is good news for private investors in RBS because it is a step towards becoming a normal bank again, though government sales may put downward pressure on the share price in the near term.

“As a business RBS remains a work in progress, and consequently an investment for recovery investors with a long-term investment horizon.”</s>LONDON (AP) — The British government sold a 7.7 percent stake in Royal Bank of Scotland on Tuesday, taking a tentative step toward returning the bank to private ownership almost a decade after it was bailed out at the height of the financial crisis.

The government sold the shares for 271 pence each, raising 2.5 billion pounds ($3.3 billion), the Treasury said in a statement. That's 46 percent less than the 502 pence-a-share the government invested in 2008 and 2009, spurring criticism from opposition leaders who said taxpayers would "incur an enormous loss."

The U.K. pumped 45.5 billion pounds into RBS as it sought to protect the nation's financial system during the financial crisis, ultimately acquiring more than 84 percent of the bank. The government still owns 62.4 percent of RBS, more than a year after the Treasury sold the last of its shares in rival Lloyds Banking Group.

"This sale represents a significant step in returning RBS to full private ownership and putting the financial crisis behind us," Treasury chief Philip Hammond said. "The government should not be in the business of owning banks."

Under Chief Executive Ross McEwan, who took over in 2013, RBS ditched the global ambitions that briefly made it the world's largest bank before the financial crisis brought it to the brink of collapse. The bank has sold most overseas operations and shed risky assets to focus on consumer and business banking in Britain.

But the bank has struggled to overcome its history, setting aside billions of pounds to compensate customers, pay fines and settle lawsuits stemming from past excesses.

RBS cleared the way for the share sale last month when it agreed to pay $4.9 billion to settle claims that it misled U.S. investors who bought securities backed by risky mortgages, resolving the last major legacy of the financial crisis.

"I am pleased that the government has decided the time is now right to restart the share sale process," McEwan said in a statement. "This is an important moment for RBS and an important step in returning the bank to private ownership."

The sale marks the second time the government has moved to divest its holding in RBS and comes amid increasing pressure to restore government coffers after eight years of austerity. The proceeds of the sale will be used to reduce the national debt, Hammond said.

But John McDonnell, the Labour Party's spokesman on Treasury issues, said there was no economic justification for selling the shares at this time.

"There should be no sales of RBS shares, full-stop," McDonnell said in a statement released before the sale.

"But because of this government's obsession with privatization, the taxpayers who bailed out the bank will now incur an enormous loss."</s>The U.K. government said Monday it will sell a 7.7% stake in Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, pushing on with a plan to shed its ownership in the Scottish bank at a loss.

The U.K. Government Investments Ltd, which controls the British government’s 70% stake in RBS, said an accelerated book build will take place to dispose of the shares. Originally a share sale was slated for last week, but those plans were disrupted by the market gyrations following political upheaval in Italy and Spain.
The government of the United Kingdom announces its intent to sell a 7.7% stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland, expected to raise £2.6 billion. Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell says there is "no economic justification" for selling the shares.