The UK government could move to recoup its bailout money on Royal Bank of Scotland as soon as the first half of 2012, with plans for a £5 billion (around $8.1 billion) share sale of the parent of Coutts, the private bank, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

The sale to institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds from the Middle East and Far East would be the first of a staged process of selling the government's 83 per cent stake in the bank, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources. The reported added that with a market capitalisation of £46.1 billion for RBS – based on Friday's closing price - £5 billion would represent about 13 per cent of the taxpayer stake in the bank.

Throughout the process of the initial bailout of RBS amid the credit crisis, and subsequent debate about its restructuring, any suggestions that Coutts and other wealth management businesses might be sold off have been quashed as unfounded by the bank.

The RBS share sale will be launched by UK Financial Investments, the body set up by the Treasury to look after the government's stakes in RBS and Lloyds Banking Group.

Earlier in May, Stephen Hester, chief executive of RBS, said any disposal of the government stake will be some way off.