HM Government has now signalled the sale of its majority stake in The Royal Bank of Scotland plc. The UK Tax payer owns over 80% of the bank, via the state investment company UK Financial Investments.

In 2008, as the height of the financial crisis, the UK government had to immediately pump in £45bn to keep the bank afloat.

The RBS balance sheet in 2008 was:-

Total assets £2,401,652m
Yes, £2,401 billion = £2.4 Trillion. That was larger than the UK GDP in 2008.

The RBS balance sheet in 2014 was:-

Total assets £1,050,763m
Yes, £1.050 billion = £1.05 Trillion.

One can see in the 7 years since the financial crisis that RBS balance sheet has more than halved, via all the disposals that have taken place.