Britain’s NatWest privatisation target delayed to 2026

The British government has said it will need an extra year to fully return state-backed lender NatWest to private hands, targeting 2026 to sell its majority ownership of the bank.

NatWest – formerly Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:NWG) – remains 62% taxpayer-owned as a legacy of its state bailout in the 2007-09 financial crisis.

The government has managed just two sales of state-owned stock to date, with the last one in 2018.