UPDATE 1-Britain sells off last chunk of financial crisis 'bad bank'
Feb 26 (Reuters) - The British government on Friday completed the 5 billion pound ($6.96 billion) sale of the final chunk of its 'bad bank' comprising failed lenders Bradford & Bingley and Northern Rock, which were nationalised because of the 2007-09 financial crisis.
UK Asset Resolution (UKAR), owned by the Treasury, was set up to manage more than 100 billion pounds of assets from the two collapsed lenders.
UKAR's last remaining assets will be sold to a consortium of Davidson Kempner Capital Management and Citibank.
The British government separately owns a 62% stake in retail lender NatWest Group, previously named Royal Bank of Scotland. The government has struggled to reduce its holding since the bank's crisis-era bailout.
"We are continuing to protect consumers while recovering significant amounts of the taxpayer money used to ensure financial stability during the financial crisis," said Treasury minister John Glen.
UKAR will remain in government ownership but have no employees, with remaining activity and residual liabilities run by consultancy PwC. ($1 = 0.7184 pounds) (Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong in Bengaluru and Iain Withers in London Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and David Goodman )
