Royal Bank of Scotland, the owner of Ulster Bank, has invited investment banks to pitch for the role of corporate broker as the UK state-backed lender gears up for a full return to public hands.

Lloyds Banking Group could be fully returned to private hands within the next year, chairman Norman Blackwell said at the company’s annual meeting yesterday.

Britain is closer to selling part of its stake in Royal Bank of Scotland after seeing a growing appetite for the bank’s shares from financial institutions and it could offer some of the stock to private retail investors.

The UK government has sold £4.2bn (€5bn) worth of shares in Lloyds Banking Group to cut its stake in the country’s largest retail bank to under 25% and putting it on course for a complete exit in the next year.

Britain will sell an additional 7.5% of part-nationalised Lloyds Banking Group, worth about £4.2bn (over €5bn), via a placing to institutional investors.

A £3.21bn chunk of UK-taxpayer-backed Lloyds Banking Group has been sold by the British Government as it begins the process of returning the bank to private hands.

The son of a former Bank of England governor has been appointed chief executive of the body that manages government stakes in the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group.

Barclays will, this week, say how it plans to meet tougher UK rules on capital, while strong earnings from Lloyds Banking Group will pave the way for Britain to sell some of its shares in the bank.

Royal Bank of Scotland has ruled out another shake-up of its investment bank and sources familiar with the matter said such strategic changes were unlikely until RBS appoints a new chief executive.

Radical plans to split Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) into a “good” bank and a “bad” bank must be looked at immediately as part of an urgent rethink of Government plans for privatisation, according to an influential Parliamentary commission.

Royal Bank of Scotland’s chief executive needs to be given the freedom to complete his turnaround plan without excessive interference, the bank’s chairman said yesterday.

Royal Bank of Scotland saw its pay report overwhelmingly backed today as the taxpayer-backed bank reassured its investors it wanted to become “a bank that is built to last”.

A £963,000 bonus for the boss of a UK taxpayer-funded bank has been attacked as “out of touch” by Labour, as a British government minister claimed he had a public “duty” to refuse it.

Lloyds Banking Group is under mounting pressure to provide an update on the leadership vacuum created by the absence of its chief executive, it was claimed today.

The London market fell 1.5% today as banking shares took a hammering amid fresh fears about the eurozone debt crisis.

Royal Bank of Scotland boss Stephen Hester saw his controversial £7.7m pay package rubberstamped by the Government today as the bank insisted it had to pay staff “fairly”.

The controversial £7.7m (€8.78m) pay package awarded to Royal Bank of Scotland's boss is expected to be given the all-clear by the British government today despite a widespread backlash over the deal.

Nationalised Northern Rock is to bundle up its mortgages for sale in money markets for the first time since its collapse into public hands.

Nationalised UK lender Northern Rock said today it was paying staff £13.1m (€15.2m) in bonuses for 2010 despite posting a multimillion-pound loss for the year.

Royal Bank of Scotland is expected to remain in the red tomorrow when the part-nationalised player reveals full-year figures.

The body charged with managing British taxpayer-owned banking assets said today that it had pulled off a "real coup" in hiring investment banker Jim O'Neil to oversee the sale of stakes in Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Investors in British taxpayer-backed Lloyds Banking Group today protested over executive pay plans at the firm’s annual general meeting.

Part-nationalised lender Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) today posted a £3.6bn (€4.09bn) loss for last year.

Royal Bank of Scotland is to pay bonuses totalling £1.3bn (€1.47bn) to its investment bankers despite expectations of grim annual results tomorrow.

Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester could be in line for a bonus of up to £1.6m (€1.82m) this week despite the bank's predicted hefty losses, it was reported today.

Part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland is preparing to hand out huge bonuses to investment bankers despite expected annual losses of £7bn (€8bn), it was reported today.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has indicated it will bow to pressure to slash executive bonuses after a bruising row with the British Treasury, it was reported today.

Lloyds Banking Group today said talks were ongoing over possible alternatives to the Government’s toxic asset insurance scheme amid speculation it has been banned from withdrawing.

UK Chancellor Alistair Darling will this week outline plans to sell nationalised lender Northern Rock to a player with little presence in the mortgage market under plans to revive competition in the banking sector, it was reported today.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) confirmed its chief executive Stephen Hester is in line for a pay package of more than £9.7m (€11.3m) if he leads a turnaround of the ailing lender.

Royal Bank of Scotland is set to reveal a £9.6m (€11.4m) pay package for its chief executive, it was reported today.

Lloyds Banking Group will today face shareholders amid mounting anger over its HBOS takeover as the final deadline for investors to take part in its £4bn (€4.5bn) fundraising looms.

The British government body charged with overseeing State-owned bank stakes today threw its weight behind Lloyds Banking Group ahead of its annual meeting later this week.

Beleaguered Royal Bank of Scotland shareholders will voice their fury after a catastrophic year for the bank at its annual meeting today.

The British government’s investment arm is understood to be planning a protest vote against former Royal Bank of Scotland boss Fred Goodwin’s controversial pension, it was reported today.

A detailed probe is being drawn up into Fred Goodwin’s 10-year stint in charge of bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland.

Huge payouts to executives at banks bailed out by the British government were under scrutiny tonight amid legal moves to claw back any unnecessary payments.

Staff at a bank bailed-out by the taxpayer are likely to receive some bonuses, British Chancellor Alistair Darling indicated today as pressure increased for any payments to be halted.

The part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland is being propped up with £20bn (€22.8bn) of the UK's public money and is 68% owned by the British taxpayer.

The British government will manage taxpayers' multi-billion-pound stakes in some of the country's biggest banks on an “arms length” basis rather than through direct boardroom control, it was revealed today.