The British government’s stake in Royal Bank of Scotland, owner of Citizens Bank, Connecticut, has climbed above 70 percent as the bank completed a swap of preference shares held by the government for ordinary shares, RBS announced today.
The government previously held 58 percent of the bank’s ordinary shares after investing $30 billion (20 billion pounds) last year to keep the bank afloat.
The government’s shares are held by U.K. Financial Investments Ltd., an agency of the British Treasury which takes an arms-length stance toward the bank’s management. (AP)
