So this is how it ends. By tomorrow morning, HBOS and RBS will have the government as a majority shareholder. Not just a few shares at the edge to shore up the core capital but the majority shareholder. Interesting to see if supervision of its investment will require the government to have nominees on the boards - hard to see how government can avoid it. When you are the majority shareholder, you cannot simply duck out of your responsibilities by saying that you don't want to interfere in the management of the bank.
It will no doubt be the government's intention to sell off (privatise?) its shareholdings as soon as market conditions permit. But, in the meantime, life at HBOS and RBS should be interesting.
And when HBOS demand excessive charges for my overdraft, can I complain to my MP?
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