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| RBS: Government sells £2.1bn of shares in bank | RBS: Government sells £2.1bn of shares in bank |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The government has begun its sell-off of shares in part-nationalised lender Royal Bank of Scotland, raising £2.1bn. | |
| It sold 630 million shares, or a 5.4% stake in the bank, at 330p each, a discount of 7.6p to Monday's closing share price. | |
| The sale cuts the government's stake in RBS to 72.9% from 78.3%. | |
| Chancellor George Osborne is facing criticism for selling the shares at a loss compared with the price of about 500p the government paid for them. | |
| The 170p difference represents a loss of about £1.07bn on the shares sold. | |
| 'Simpler and fairer' | |
| The UK bailed out RBS in 2008 and 2009 by buying shares for £45bn and supplying it with cheap funds. | |
| Ian Gordon, a banking analyst at Investec, told the BBC's Today programme: "The taxpayer is being short-changed." | Ian Gordon, a banking analyst at Investec, told the BBC's Today programme: "The taxpayer is being short-changed." |
| The shares could have been sold for a higher price in February, when they were changing hands for more than 400p, he said. | The shares could have been sold for a higher price in February, when they were changing hands for more than 400p, he said. |
| However, James Bevan, chief investment officer at money manager CCLA Investment Management, said the loss was "relatively small". | |
| The point of the UK's rescue of the bank was to prevent further damage to the economy, rather than to turn a profit on the shares, he told BBC Radio 5 live. | |
| RBS chief executive Ross McEwan said: "I'm pleased the government has started to sell down its stake. | |
| "It's an important moment and reflects the progress we are making to become a stronger, simpler and fairer bank. There is more work to be done but we're determined to build a bank the country can be proud of." | |
| RBS reported a half-year loss of £153m last week after setting aside more money for repaying customers and potential legal settlements. | |
| However, for the three months to the end of June, the bank posted a profit of £293m. | |
| What is your reaction to the selling off of RBS shares? You can share your comments by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. | |
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