UK relinquishes control of former Royal Bank of Scotland

LONDON (AP) — The British government has relinquished control of the former Royal Bank of Scotland for the first time since it bailed out the lender during the global financial crisis almost 15 years ago. The Treasury said Monday that it had sold 1.2 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) of shares back to the bank, now known as NatWest Group, cutting the government’s stake to 48.1%, from 50.6%. Royal Bank of Scotland came to the brink of collapse in 2008 after a global acquisition spree that briefly made it the world’s biggest bank but also left it heavily exposed to risky loans in the U.S.