RBS seeks fresh start on 22 July with NatWest rebrand

Royal Bank of Scotland will attempt to leave its troubled past behind next week when the lender changes its name to NatWest, the bank it bought 20 years ago to launch an expansion spree that led to its near-collapse.

RBS said the change to NatWest Group plc would take place on 22 July nearly 300 years after the bank was founded as The Royal Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh.

The bank bought National Westminster Bank after winning a bid battle with its fierce rival Bank of Scotland. Both banks were looking for a route to expand outside Scotland and thought they could run the ailing English bank better than its then managers.

Under Chief Executive Fred Goodwin the NatWest purchase was the start of global expansion that made RBS the biggest bank in the world by assets after it bought most of ABN Amro in 2008. RBS was bailed out by the UK government in October 2008 as it approached collapse during the credit crisis. Taxpayers still 62% of RBS.

Since the crisis RBS's reputation has been damaged further by a string of large fines in the UK and the US and allegations that it pushed small businesses to fail and then sold their assets for profit.

Alison Rose, who took over as RBS's CEO in 2019, announced the planned name change for the group in February. The move is a radical one for the bank, which only appointed its first non-Scottish boss when Goodwin was forced out. Its branches in Scotland will keep the RBS name and Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland will retain its brand.

RBS will remain headquartered in Edinburgh at the giant Gogarburn complex Goodwin built on the edge of the city but Rose, the first woman to run one of Britain's big four high street lenders, will be based in London.

The bank announced the date of the name change in a statement to the stock exchange.

"A subsequent announcement will be made when the name change becomes effective, which will also provide an update regarding trading under RBS's revised tickers," RBS said. "Until the publication of such an announcement, trading will continue under the existing tickers."