A formal announcement is likely to be made in its first quarter result about the repayment of £75bn loan it availed from the Treasury’s credit guarantee scheme and the Bank of England’s special liquidity scheme as well as £36.6bn in emergency liquidity assistance from the Bank and about $84.5bn (£52.2bn) from the US Federal Reserve, during the financial crisis.
The announcement is also expected to reveal that during the first-quarter, RBS’ pre-tax losses fell below £50m compared with the £106m loss it made during the same period in 2011.
After the debt repayment steps initiated by the bank, the UK government will still own 82% of shares in the bank after its £45.5bn bailout package.
It is also anticipated that RBS has paid the UK Treasury about £1.5bn in fees for the credit guarantee scheme.
According to industry sources, RBS is still receiving support through the EUR10bn of cheap three-year loans from the European Central Bank’s long-term refinancing operation (LTRO).
RBS retail banking operation NatWest’s profit is believed to be nearly 3% lower than the previous quarter of £449m and its investment banking arm is performing well.
