Lloyds mulls alternatives to toxic asset scheme

28th Aug 2009 06:52

Lloyds Banking is said to be considering alternatives to the government's toxic asset protection scheme (APS), including a potential rights issue or the sale of Scottish Widows.The part-nationalised lender may also sell Clerical Medical, a provider of investment products and pensions, Bloomberg is quoting two people familiar with the talks as saying.Lloyds, which is 43% owned by the UK government, has already tapped shareholders a number of times recently, but management is said to be concerned that the cost of taking part in the scheme is just too high. The bank agreed to put £260bn of troubled loans into the APS scheme as part of its initial deal in March, but is baulking at the £15.6bn in fees. Talks about the details are still ongoing.