Whoever they are (JC Flowers and Blackstone have been mooted), as a result of their interest, the Treasury has this morning told the Competition and Markets Authority to suspend its investigation into whether W&G is big enough to be a real, viable competitor.
Implicitly, that would also answer the question customers must be asking: whether W&G is sustainable as a standalone bank.
At the time the CMA probe was commissioned, there was much talk that the answer to those questions would be “no”, and RBS would have to put more assets into the W&G operation so it could stand on its own two feet.
Now we may never know what the CMA reckons — highly convenient for those trying to flog it.
As taxpayers, we should clearly hope for an eager bidding battle with rivals slavering to overpay.
As customers of a bank in desperate need of investment, perhaps not.
Crying in the rain
Sterling’s fall today tells you all you need to know about the jobs and wages data: pay growth is still so low we’re miles from following the Fed with an interest rate rise.
Shopkeepers fretting about Christmas won’t know whether to laugh or cry. Laugh because their customers’ mortgages will stay cheap, or cry because punters’ pay is so low.
For the rag trade trying to shift winter warmers, another factor out of their control is a bigger worry: relentlessly warm, wet weather.
