2009 United Kingdom bank rescue package

A second bank rescue package totalling at least £50 billion was announced by the British government on 19 January 2009, as a response to the ongoing global financial crisis. The package was designed to increase the amount of money that banks could lend to businesses and private individuals. This aid comes in two parts: an initial £50 billion being made available to big corporate borrowers,[1] and a second undisclosed amount that forms a form of insurance against banks suffering big losses.

Following its announcement, it has been largely criticised by opposition parties and the UK media.

After the October 2008 bailouts of RBS, HBOS and Lloyds TSB and Lloyds TSB's January 2009 merger with HBOS, the Government was holding a 43% stake in Lloyds Banking Group, but then on March 6, 2009, after it became apparent that the HBOS merger had been bad for Lloyds since HBOS had made losses of £11bn, the Government announced it would increase its stake in Lloyds to 65% (77% if including non-voting preference shares).[2]

See also

References

  1. Wong, Grace (2009-01-19). "U.K. unveils second bank rescue plan". CNN. Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2009.
  2. "FT.com / Companies / Banks - Lloyds in £260bn deal with government". Archived from the original on 2009-08-16. Retrieved 2009-03-08.

External links