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RBS exits Government?s asset insurance scheme

In a significant move towards the private sector, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) announced on Wednesday morning that it had left the Government’s Asset Protection Scheme (APS).

A total payment of £2.5bn has been made to the state-run insurance programme, after the bank’s highest risk assets were protected four years ago.

RBS has been able to rid itself of £282bn of loans and investments since 2008, without making any claims.

The bank hopes to return fully to the private sector, and Wednesday’s announcement signalled a step towards this goal, although a large chunk of RBS is still owned by the state.

Stephen Hester, the Group Chief Executive for RBS said: “We all want a system in which banks will never again need to seek credit support from Government in a financial crisis.

“Huge progress has been made towards that goal and our exiting the APS is a significant milestone in RBS’s recovery.”

He continued: “The changes RBS needed to make after 2008 were truly radical. Much progress has been made along that road.

“There is much work still underway. But RBS and all who rely on us are better off for the strong progress already made.”

The bank said this was the right time to exit the APS after capital, liquidity and funding positions have been strengthened since it entered the programme in 2008.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .