RBS - Bailouts & Handouts

There seems to be quite a bit of talk in the media on the subject of government handouts / bailouts to greedy, massive bonus taking banks.

The point that the UK government actually bought a majority stake in RBS etc with the so called handout cash seems generally to be missed. Before the bailout, RBS shareholders owned 100% of the value of the bank, now they own 15% and HMG owns 85%.

Government support came at a substantial price to the previous owners of the bank; from the shareholder's perspective it ain't a gift from the taxpayer.