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The great British bank sell-off begins

Source: observer.guardian.co.uk

Nov 03, 2009

Summary

• RBS and Lloyds forced to relinquish prized assets
• Tories accuse Darling of 'new world record' bailout

The Conservatives have accused the government of creating a "new world record" for bank bailouts as another £39bn of taxpayers' money was injected into Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group.

The sum is larger than the £37bn used to prop up the banks in last October's salvage exercise and means the taxpayer is on the hook for more than £54bn in RBS alone.

George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, said the £39.2bn was the equivalent of £2,000 per family and a "new world record as the biggest bailout of any single bank in any country".

The government, which regards a figure closer to £29bn as a truer reflection of its new injection of funds, tried to temper its announcement by imposing curbs on bonuses at the banks. They will not be able to pay cash bonuses for the 2009 financial year to any staff earning more than £39,000 and members of the boards will have to defer all their bonuses until 2012.

The latest injection of taxpayer funds follows months of nego

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