Bosses of the UK’s listed banks are to attend a summit to find ways to boost their stock market value, according to a report today.
Franck Petitgas, Rishi Sunak's chief business adviser, has called the meeting amid rising government concerns that the languishing share prices of Britain’s major banks are a bar to their willingness and ability to lend.
Chiefs of Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking, NatWest group and Santander UK will meet with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt next Tuesday to discuss the issue, Sky News reported.
Share in UK banks have struggled since the banking crisis of 2009 with the government still sitting on a hefty stake in Natwest that it acquired when it bailed out the bank.
The government has said it wants to clear that stake entirely, including potentially through a sale to the public, but over the past twelve months the price of Natwest shares has dropped by 30%.
Lloyds and Barclays have fared only marginally better with falls of 14% and 23% respectively.
HSBC has been largely flat but has been buoyed by extensive Asian business even with the ongoing Chinese property crisis while Santander is listed in Spain.
A spokesperson for the Treasury told Sky: "The UK's banking and financial services sector is world-leading - we're the largest net exporter of financial services and continue to lead the way in areas such as legal services, finance, insurance, and private equity with the largest markets in Europe.
"We continue to engage with the sector to find new and better ways to unlock growth across the whole of the UK.”