The British state risks never reviewing the 66 billion pounds (82 billion euros), used in 2008 to bail out the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group. This is the warning launched by the parliamentary public finance commission which also denounced the government's mistakes in saving Northern Rock in 2007-2008.
“The £66bn spent buying RBS and Lloyds bonds may never be recovered and the Treasury also needs to ensure it is ready to handle any future crises,” the commission said in a report. The British state currently owns 81% of Rbs and 39,6% of Lloyds. The commission is very critical of the government's handling of the financial crisis and accuses the Treasury of having taken part in a "collective failure of monumental proportions" due to its "inability to understand how the banking sector boom could lead to a crisis". As for Northern Rock, the Treasury has "taken too long to nationalize it" and the bailout should cost the British state coffers around 2 billion euros.
