Britain to sell more RBS shares, Northern Rock loans
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain could complete the sale of its holding in Royal Bank of Scotland by 2020/21 under government plans to sell almost 31 billion pounds of shares in the bank in the next six years.
The government has already planned to sell 25 billion pounds of RBS shares during this parliament, which runs until May 2020. It said on Wednesday it aimed to sell an additional 5.8 billion pounds of shares in 2020/21, which could complete the sale process, depending on the market price.
The government began selling its RBS shares in August, cutting its stake to 73 percent from 78 percent. It spent 46 billion pounds to rescue RBS in 2008 during the financial crisis and may not get all of that cash back.
The government also plans to sell 7.5 billion pounds of loans in the next five years that used to belong to nationalised banks Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley, it said in its autumn spending review.
UK Asset Resolution (UKAR), the body set up to run down the loans of Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley, is expected to sell 7.5 billion pounds more loans before May 2020, subject to market conditions and value for money, the spending review said.
UKAR sold 13 billion pounds of former Northern Rock loans earlier this month to U.S. private equity firm Cerberus, the biggest ever sale of a book of loans in Europe.
The government has cut its holding in Lloyds Banking Group to less than 10 percent and intends to sell the remainder next year, including a sale of shares to the general public in the spring.
(Reporting by Steve Slater. Editing by Jane Merriman)
