Government sells a further 1% shareholding in Lloyds
Lloyds share sales have now raised £16 billion for the taxpayer.
The government has sold a further 1% shareholding in Lloyds Banking Group through the trading plan launched in December, taking the total raised for the taxpayer to £16 billion and reducing the government’s shareholding to below 10%.
All sales are used to reduce the national debt.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne said:
It’s fantastic news that we’ve sold more shares in Lloyds Bank, taking the total recovered to £16 billion.
Today’s announcement means that we now own less than 10% of Lloyds Bank - a significant milestone in our plan to return the bank to the private sector, and get taxpayers money back.
I am determined to build on this success by making Lloyds shares available to the public next Spring, so that we can build a share-owning democracy and continue to reduce our national debt.
A trading plan involves gradually selling shares in the market over time, in an orderly and measured way.
The trading plan was launched on 17 December 2014 and will end no later than 31 December 2015.
HM Treasury recently provided an update on the Lloyds retail share offer.
As required by Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules, Lloyds Banking Group announced today that the government’s shareholding in the bank has crossed through a one percentage point threshold.
This announcement therefore notifies the market that the government has reduced its shareholding in Lloyds to below 10%.