Top Four UK Banks Share £5.3 Billion Windfall From BOE
- Interest on QE reserves surges to £9.2 billion as rates rise
- Scale of transfer revealed by Parliament’s Treasury Committee
The Bank of England in London.
Photographer: Betty Laura Zapata/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Four of Britain’s biggest lenders shared a £5.3 billion ($6.6 billion) windfall last year in transfers from the Bank of England that were ultimately covered by the UK taxpayer.
Documents released by lawmakers on the House of Commons Treasury Committee reveal that NatWest, Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays and Santander UK earned £9.23 billion of interest on BOE “reserves” created to fund its £895 billion quantitative-easing program.