FORM 6-K

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Report of Foreign Private Issuer

Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 of

the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

For 2 August 2021 

Commission File Number: 001-10306

NatWest Group plc

Gogarburn, PO Box 1000

Edinburgh EH12 1HQ

________________________________________________

(Address of principal executive offices)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.

Form 20-F __X__    Form 40-F _____

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1):            

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7):            

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Yes _____    No __X__

If “Yes” is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82- _____

This report on Form 6-K, except for any information contained on any websites linked in this report, shall be deemed incorporated by reference into the company's Registration Statement on Form F-3 (File No. 333-251220) and to be a part thereof from the date which it was filed, to the extent not superseded by documents or reports subsequently filed or furnished.

NatWest Group plc

2 August 2021

Commencement of Share Buyback Programme

NatWest Group plc (the “Company” or “NWG”) announces the commencement of its programme to buyback ordinary shares in the Company with a nominal value of £1 each (“Ordinary Shares”).

On 30 July 2021, NWG announced its half year results and a share buyback programme (the “Programme”) of up to £750 million. The Programme will commence on 2 August 2021 and will end no later than 18 January 2022, provided that the term of the Programme may be extended to end no later than 1 February 2022 to account for certain disruption events during the initial term of the Programme.

The Programme, the purpose of which is to reduce the capital of NWG, will be for an aggregate market value equivalent of up to £750 million and will take place within the limitations of the authority granted by shareholders to the Board of NWG at its Annual General Meeting, held on 28 April 2021. NWG confirmed on 23 March 2021 that, when contemplating the use of the authority granted by shareholders, it would continue to observe institutional guidelines and will accordingly reduce the authority to reflect the reduction in issued share capital which occurred as a result of the off-market buyback announced on 19 March 2021. Taking that into account, the maximum number of Ordinary Shares that can be purchased by NWG under the Programme is 1,157,583,542.

NWG has entered into non-discretionary instructions with UBS AG, London Branch to conduct the Programme on its behalf and to make trading decisions under the Programme independently of NWG.

NWG intends to cancel the repurchased Ordinary Shares.

Further information:

Investor Relations

+ 44 (0)207 672 1758

Media Relations

+44 (0)131 523 4205

Legal Entity Identifier: 2138005O9XJIJN4JPN90 

Disclaimer

This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute or form a part of an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to purchase, or the solicitation to sell, any securities of the Company.

No Purchases in the United States and No Purchases of American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”)

Purchases of Ordinary Shares under the Programme will be made outside the United States only. There will be no purchases of Ordinary Shares from within the United States or from persons known to be located in the United States, and there will be no purchases of the Company’s ADRs under the Programme.

Forward-looking statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, such as statements that include, without limitation, the words ‘expect’, ‘estimate’, ‘project’, ‘anticipate’, ‘commit’, ‘believe’, ‘should’, ‘intend’, ‘will’, ‘plan’, ‘could’, ‘probability’, ‘risk’, ‘Value-at-Risk (VaR)’, ‘target’, ‘goal’, ‘objective’, ‘may’, ‘endeavour’, ‘outlook’, ‘optimistic’, ‘prospects’ and similar expressions or variations on these expressions. These statements concern or may affect future matters, such as NatWest Group's future economic results, business plans and strategies.  In particular, this document may include forward-looking statements relating to NatWest Group plc in respect of, but not limited to: the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, its regulatory capital position and related requirements, its financial position, profitability and financial performance (including financial, capital, cost savings and operational targets), the implementation of its Purpose-led strategy and the refocusing of its NatWest Markets franchise, its ESG and climate related targets, its access to adequate sources of liquidity and funding, increasing competition from new incumbents and disruptive technologies, its exposure to third party risks, its ongoing compliance with the UK ring-fencing regime and ensuring operational continuity in resolution, its impairment losses and credit exposures under certain specified scenarios, substantial regulation and oversight, ongoing legal, regulatory and governmental actions and investigations, the transition of LIBOR and IBOR rates to alternative risk free rates and NatWest Group’s exposure to economic and political risks (including with respect to terms surrounding Brexit and climate change), operational risk, conduct risk, cyber and IT risk, key person risk and credit rating risk.  Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that might cause actual results and performance to differ materially from any expected future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

Factors that could cause or contribute to differences in current expectations include, but are not limited to, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, future acquisitions, the outcome of legal, regulatory and governmental actions and investigations, the level and extent of future impairments and write-downs (including with respect to goodwill), legislative, political, fiscal and regulatory developments, accounting standards, competitive conditions, technological developments, interest and exchange rate fluctuations, general economic and political conditions and the impact of climate related risks and the transitioning to a low carbon economy. These and other factors, risks and uncertainties that may impact any forward-looking statement or NatWest Group plc's actual results are discussed in NatWest Group plc's UK 2020 Annual Report and Accounts (ARA), NatWest Group plc’s Interim Results for H1 2021 and NatWest Group plc’s filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, NatWest Group plc's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F and Reports on Form 6-K. The forward-looking statements contained in this announcement speak only as of the date of this announcement and NatWest Group plc does not assume or undertake any obligation or responsibility to update any of the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent legally required.

Signatures

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.