The Treasury will sell another slice of the shares it owns in the NatWest Group over the next 12 months.

UKGI, which runs government investments, says it has hired Morgan Stanley to sell up to 15% of the Treasury’s stake in the bank it saved with a £45.5bn bailout at the height of the financial crisis in 2008.

UKGI says Morgan Stanley will have the discretion to sell the shares between next month and August 2022, although this should not be below a price UKGI and the Treasury “determine represents fair value and delivers value for money for the taxpayer”.

The Treasury currently holds 54.7% of NatWest Group, which was called Royal Bank of Scotland when it almost collapsed 13 years ago.

The taxpayer saved the bank by buying over 80% of the group at 502p a share.

Shares in NatWest Group closed at 199.6p last night, valuing the business at £23bn.

The Treasury and UKGI say it “will keep other disposal options open, including by way of directed buybacks and/or accelerated bookbuilds”.

They add the deal with Morgan Stanley “does not preclude the government from executing such other disposals that achieve value for money for taxpayers”.

The government’s disposal of its NatWest stake has been much longer than the sale of its Lloyds Banking Group, which it also saved with a £20.3bn bailout in 2008. Taxpayers sold the last of their 43% stake in this lender in 2017, recouping its full investment.