Westminster Bank of Westminster Bank, became first chairman of the fifth largest bank in the world. In 1969 David Robarts, former chairman of National Provincial, assumed Stirling's position. The statutory process of integration was completed in 1969 and the new company, National Westminster Bank Limited, opened its doors for business on 1 January 1970. NatWest, as it became known, is now part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group. Westminster Bank Westminster Bank was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales from 1834 until its merger into the National Westminster Bank in 1970; it continued to exist as a
British Business Bank companies with a turnover of up to £25m. The bank does not lend to SMEs directly, but instead works with other financial institutions to increase access to funding, such as by providing part-guarantees for loans. After the January 2018 liquidation of Carillion threatened thousands of suppliers, particularly SMEs, £100m of lending was offered by the British Business Bank, alongside a fund established by HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Bank. The business bank came under criticism from rebuildingsociety.com for its execution of the Funding for Lending scheme, where it has created unfair competition in the UK peer-to-peer lending industry