NatWest is back in the spotlight in the run-up to its 2021 results on February 18, not least because the government is on the verge of cutting its stake in the bank, a legacy of the 2008 financial crisis, from a peak of 79 per cent to below the psychologically important 50 per cent. The steady trickle of NatWest shares from the Treasury on to the stock market has dampened the price, but glasses will be raised in the boardroom when the government’s stake falls below the level of automatic control.
With that box ticked, the annual results will cleanse the balance sheet of a few nasty one-off charges. The bank will have released about £1 billion set aside for Covid loan losses that did
