British banks will pay dividends after all - papers

Banks asking the Government for £37 billion in rescue finance scented what they saw as a Treasury climbdown last night after day three of the package talks threatened to become mired in confusion. At the weekend each bank involved in the bailout — Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds TSB and HBOS — agreed in signed statements approved by the Treasury to a ban on dividends to shareholders while the taxpayer held a significant stake. Officials disclosed yesterday, however, that the ban was only irrevocably in force for a year. It could then be lifted if the banks paid back large sums to the T...