State to start shedding bank stakes after election - papers

The Government is understood to be considering plans to offload its stakes in Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland just weeks after the general election.

According to The Scotsman, UK Financial Investments, the quango that oversees the taxpayer stakes in the banks, is said to be looking at proposals to sell bonds that could eventually be swapped for shares in Lloyds and RBS.

It is thought the "convertible gilts" could be exchanged for shares once certain price targets were met that would give the taxpayer a profit - and could be launched for sale in June.

An update from UKFI released alongside the Budget last week showed that the state currently has a meagre paper profit on its shares in Lloyds, which is 41% owned by the state. Full story...

THE CONSERVATIVES will try to seize the electoral initiative today with a pledge to reverse part of Labour's national insurance rise due to come into effect next year.

After several weeks in which the Tory poll lead has narrowed, George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, will announce that the party will cut the cost for employees and employers, who each face a 1% increase in contributions from April 2011, reports The Times.

It is understood that the Tories would reduce the planned rise by about half, although only low and middle-income earners would benefit.

The announcement comes on the day that Mr Osborne confronts Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, and Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, in the first big television debate of the election campaign. Full story...

BRITAIN'S FINANCIAL services industry is recovering from the global banking crisis, with profits rising and companies optimistic that growth will pick up strongly during 2010.

But volumes are broadly flat, which suggests that the improvement is coming from efficiency and cost-cutting measures rather than a surge in new business, according to The Guardian.

A report from the CBI, the business leaders' group, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the accountants, highlights concerns about the industry's legislative burden, which is at an all-time high, with spending on compliance expected to soar.

Ian McCafferty, the CBI's chief economic adviser, said: "Activity in the financial services sector held steady in the last three months, and there are signs of better things to come. However, the picture remains mixed." Full story...

THOUSANDS OF RBS staff have received the backdated addition to their "value account", which is usually used to buy benefits such as health care or a company car. Unused sums are typically paid in cash to employees at the end of the tax year, says The Telegraph.

The increased benefit is understood to have been included as a cash payment in this month's salary.

Even staff made redundant over the past year are in line to receive the payment, which it is estimated will cost the troubled bank between £30m and £40m a year. Full story...