George Osborne due to detail RBS plans in speech

British chancellor George Osborne is expected to lay out plans for privatising Royal Bank of Scotland in next week's Mansion House speech, according to sources.

The British government is eager to capitalise on its surprise outright victory in last month’s general election to accelerate the sale of stakes in RBS and Lloyds Banking Group, which date back to the bailouts of the 2008 financial crisis.

Yesterday, the treasury committed to selling a chunk of Lloyds shares to retail investors within the next 12 months and announced a further reduction of its stake in the bank to below 19 per cent.

A treasury spokesman said the Mansion House dinner would be “an obvious platform” to outline the government’s plans for its 80 per cent stake in RBS.

–(Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2015)