Royal Bank of Scotland has made a final payment to Britain's finance ministry to cancel an arrangement that gives the government priority over dividends.
The bank has paid a £1.2 billion fee to the Treasury to terminate the dividend access share (DAS), which was put in place after its £45.8 billion UK government rescue during the 2007-09 financial crisis.
The payment is a key step in the process of returning RBS to full private ownership, making the stock more attractive to investors.
"This is another important milestone in our plan to resume capital distributions to our shareholders," RBS chief executive Ross McEwan said in a statement.
The dividend payment will be reflected in the bank's first quarter 2016 financial statements.
The UK government has said it wants to sell three-quarters of its stake in the bank over the next five years.
It sold a 5.4% stake in August, at a loss of £1 billion, and retains a 73% shareholding.
