UK government will increase its stake in Lloyds Banking Group

UK government will increase its stake in Lloyds Banking Group, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, to around 75% in return for insuring GBP 260 bln of toxic assets. The loans Lloyds acquired in the HBOS takeover last September turned out to be of much worse quality than many had anticipated, leaving HBOS with a larger than expected 2008 loss of GBP 7.5 bln.