The plan to return Lloyds Banking Group to the private sector
passed a significant milestone today when it was confirmed that
the government is no longer the largest shareholder.
The latest share sales, conducted through the trading plan, have
reduced the government’s remaining shareholding to less than 6%
and below the level of the next largest shareholder.
These latest share sales mean the government has recovered over
£18 billion of the £20.3 billion taxpayers injected into Lloyds
during the financial crisis, once share sales and dividends
received are accounted for.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, said:
Returning Lloyds to the private sector and recovering all of
the cash the taxpayer injected into the bank during the
financial crisis is a priority for the government.
Confirmation that we are no longer the largest shareholder in
the bank and that we’ve now recouped over £18 billion for UK
taxpayers is further evidence that we are on track to recover
all of the £20 billion injected into the bank during the
financial crisis.
A trading plan involves gradually selling shares in the market
over time, in an orderly and measured way. The Lloyds trading
plan initially ran from 17 December 2014 to 30 June 2016. The
government announced on 7 October
2016 that further sales of Lloyds shares would also be
made through a trading plan.
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 6%.
All proceeds from the sales are used to reduce the national debt.
