Royal Bank of Scotland Group has paid 2.5 billion pounds ($4 billion) to the British government to insure its riskiest assets and agreed to exit the Asset Protection Scheme.
Bloomberg reported Wednesday that upon the bank's entry into the government plan in 2009, potential losses on 282 billion pounds in loans and derivatives were covered. However, RBS said in a statement that it never had to draw on the policy, and has since reduced the amount of loans covered to 105 billion pounds.
While it is currently 81% owned by taxpayers, RBS has moved a step closer to a return to private ownership with its departure from the plan. After stepping into former CEO Fred Goodwin's shoes in 2008 when the government bailed out RBS, Stephen Hester slashed assets by more than 800 billion pounds. He also reduced the bank's global staff by around 36,000 and cut down on the bank's securities and Irish units.
