Osborne paves way for RBS bad bank as govt prepares for Lloyds sale

The Chancellor, George Osborne, has said it would have been wise to split majority-government owned Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) into a good and bad bank when the crisis erupted, paving the way for such action to be taken in the future.

Osborne, giving his annual Mansion House speech, said he did not want "a quick sale of our RBS shares". However, he hinted that the government may yet opt to split the bank in two, after suggesting this should have happened under the previous government. "With hindsight, I think splitting RBS into a good bank and a bad bank was probably what should have happened in 2008," he said. He went on to say he would "only sell our stake in RBS when we feel the bank is fully able to support our economy and when we get good value for you, the taxpayer". However, he stalled on when this wou...