The bank – 81% owned by the UK government – on Wednesday agreed a deal with the Treasury to “retire” the special shares, according to reports.
A stumbling block had been the European Commission, which has been opposed to banks resuming dividend payouts while still receiving state aid.
But the bank said yesterday the Commission had signed off a deal allowing it to amend a state aid agreement put in place at the time of its bail-out in 2008.
The bank started talks with the government over buying back and scrapping its Dividend Access Shares last month.
Chancellor George Osborne said on Wednesday he was “pleased” at the agreement to get rid of the Dividend Access Shares.
“This is another important step on the road to a more resilient banking system and in dealing with the problems of the past to get taxpayers’ money back,” he said.
RBS chief executive Ross McEwan said: “[This] agreement is a vote of confidence in the progress we have made in rebuilding RBS and in our plan for the bank’s future.
“We now need to get on with building an RBS that can earn the trust of our customers and help change UK banking for the better.”
