Some time today we should learn how much of Royal Bank of Scotland we own. We already know who will have day-to-day responsibility for the shares: John Crompton, a Merrill Lynch equity capital markets expert, appointed by UK Financial Investments on Wednesday to oversee the listed banks in the taxpayers’ portfolio. But on the eve of UKFI’s official launch much else remains unclear.

The body’s first priority must be to agree strategy with Stephen Hester, RBS’s new chief executive. If the government holding company is to remain true to its promises to stay at arm’s-length, it cannot micro-manage RBS. But as an investor, it can no longer demand sensitive data from “its” banks at will. As long as eventual disposal of the stakes is a way off, UKFI will have to consider becoming an “insider” to gain access to the information it needs to monitor strategy on our behalf.