Government opens bank stake sales

By Steve Slater

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain on Friday asked investment banks to submit proposals to assist it with the sale of its stakes in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group.

UK Financial Investments, the body managing Britain's holdings in banks, said it was not currently planning any transactions, but when it does it will choose from a shortlist of pre-qualified banks.

Credit Suisse and Citigroup have been the main advisers to the UK government on its bank rescue plans, but most major rivals are likely to be interested.

The process, effectively a "beauty parade" of investment banks for what could be lucrative business, requires banks to submit interest by July 30 to qualify for the shortlist.

UKFI said it will repeat the pre-qualification process annually.

SERIES OF SALES

UKFI said on Monday it will need several years to sell its 70 percent stake in RBS and its 43 percent holding in Lloyds but refused to set a precise timescale.

Britain pumped 37 billion pounds into the two banks to stop them from collapsing late last year, and its loss on the two holdings stands at 10.9 billion pounds.