UK; 3 Big Banks To Sell 100s Of Branches

RAPHAEL SATTER

LONDON (AP) — Big British banks bailed out by taxpayers in the wake of the credit crunch will have to sell off large chunks of their businesses in exchange for the billions in state aid they received during the crisis, the government said Sunday.

The assets being sold off would be reserved for new entrants to the British banking market, effectively creating three new banks over the coming years. Treasury chief Alistair Darling said the move was in the interest of competition.

"What you really want to do is have quite a substantial divestment — perhaps branches or perhaps particular institutions that they own — made available to other people," Darling told the BBC's "The Politics Show."

"Unless we get competition we are going to end up with half a dozen big providers, which would be a big reduction in choice and that would not be acceptable," he said.

Banks are in negotiations with Britain's treasury and European regulators over how many assets they would have to give up in return for the help they received from the public.