RBS Will Re-Privatize Sooner Than Expected

Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (NYSE:RBS) (LON:RBS) has reached an agreement with HMT (Her Majesty’s Treasury) to retire the Dividend Access Share (DAS) policy that had given the government preferential dividend rights and will allow the bank to become fully re-privatized ahead of schedule.

In 2009, the British government bought 51 billion B shares of Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (NYSE:RBS) (LON:RBS) that gave it the right to dividends equaling the greater of a 7% yield on the B shares par value or 250% of the common share dividends. At the time, the British government said that it wouldn’t sell the shares back for less than 600p in 2014 or 650p from 2015 forward (60p and 65p respectively...