Taxpayers set to profit from bank asset protection scheme
THE taxpayer should make a healthy profit from an insurance scheme set up to handle billions of pounds worth of toxic bank assets, the head of the body organising the scheme said yesterday.
The Asset Protection Agency – which insures some £230bn worth of risky assets held by Royal Bank of Scotland — was set up last December under pressure from regulators.
I’ve previously said I was hoping the taxpayer would end up with a profit. I’m now saying I’m confident the taxpayer will end up with a profit, with a 90 per cent chance of success,” Stephan Wilcke, the head of the Asset Protection Agency.
The Asset Protection Agency, which runs the insurance set-up, said in its annual report yesterday that the taxpayer should end up with a profit of £5bn from the scheme.
The Treasury has already received £2.5bn for the scheme’s management of risky assets held by Lloyds Banking Group, and the Asset Protection Agency said the Treasury should get a further £2.5bn for handling the Royal Bank of Scotland’s assets.
As of March 31 this year there were £230.9bn of risky Royal Bank of Scotland assets covered by the asset protection scheme.