Britain kicked off the process of appointing advisors for a sale of its shares in Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland, asking investment banks to submit proposals by July 8.
UK Financial Investments (UKFI), which manages the government's stakes in the banks, is looking to appoint bookrunners, co-lead managers, capital markets advisers and strategic advisors. Finance minister George Osborne said in his annual speech to financiers in the City of London last week that the government was ready to start selling its shares in Lloyds.
The government is keen to show Britain's part-nationalised banks are recovering from the 2008 financial crisis and a profitable sale of part of its 39 percent stake in Lloyds would allow it to claim at least partial success ahead of the next election in 2015.