*If the necessary approval for the payment of the final dividend is obtained from shareholders at the annual general meeting on 26 April 2002, as an alternative to cash, a scrip dividend election will be offered and shareholders will receive details of this by letter after that date.

Shareholder enquiries
Your shareholding in the company may be checked by visiting our website (www.rbs.co.uk/shareholder). You will need the holder identifier number printed on your share certificate or tax voucher to gain access to this information.

Capital gains tax
For shareholders who held RBSG ordinary shares at 31 March 1982 the market value of one ordinary share held was 103p. After adjusting for the 1 March 1985 rights issue, the 1 September 1989 capitalisation issue and the bonus issue of Additional Value Shares on 12 July 2000, the adjusted 31 March 1982 base value of one ordinary share held currently is 46.1p.

For shareholders who held NatWest ordinary shares at 31 March 1982 the market value of one ordinary share held was 85.16p for shareholders who accepted the basic terms of the RBSG offer. This takes account of the August 1984 and June 1986 rights issues and the June 1989 bonus issue of NatWest shares as well as the subsequent issue of Additional Value Shares.

When disposing of shares, shareholders are also entitled to indexation allowance (to April 1998 only in the case of individuals and non-corporate holders), which is calculated on the 31 March 1982 value, on the cost of subsequent purchases from the date of purchase and on the subscription for rights from the date of that payment. Further adjustments must be made where a shareholder has chosen to receive shares instead of cash for dividends. Individuals and non-corporate shareholders may also be entitled to some taper relief to reduce the amount of any chargeable gain on disposal of shares.

The information set out above is intended as a general guide only and is based on current United Kingdom legislation and Inland Revenue practice as at this date. This information deals only with the position of individual shareholders who are resident in the United Kingdom for tax purposes, who are the beneficial owners of their shares and who hold their shares as an investment. It does not deal with the position of shareholders other than individual shareholders, shareholders who are resident outside the United Kingdom for tax purposes or certain types of shareholders, such as dealers in securities.