The Natwest Group Plc office in London.
Photographer: Jason Alden/BloombergNatWest Gets Ready for Life After UK Government Ownership
Seventeen years after its bailout, the British bank is preparing for a new era
Freed from the clutches of government ownership, NatWest Group Plc is getting ready to chart its own course for the first time in almost two decades.
The UK has less than 1% remaining of its crisis-era holding in the lender and could sell out any day now. While the moment is mostly symbolic for Chief Executive Officer Paul Thwaite and Chairman Rick Haythornthwaite, getting the government off the shareholder register will be the final step in shedding NatWest’s reputation as a beleaguered bank that was almost destroyed by an acquisition spree 17 years ago.