英国政府开始出售苏格兰皇家银行股份

The British government has started selling its majority stake in the bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland. The Treasury said Tuesday that's to reduce state debt and kick start the bank's full return to the private sector. And in France, Credit Agricole lost some share value despite a huge gain in the second quarter.

It's earlier than planned and will cost UK tax payers £1.1 billion. But Britain's government still sold a £2.1 billion stake in Royal Bank of Scotland in a quick-fire sale to investors.

Seven years after the bank was given a £46 billion bailout, Finance Minister George Osborne said the time was right. The taxpayer may not agree, says CMC Market's Michael Hewson.

"We could see the share price of RBS go up and if we incrementally push out stakes over the next few years we could actually minimise some of that taxpayer loss but I think it's wishful thinking for people to expect for the taxpayer to break even," said Michael Hewson, market analyst, CMC Markets.

In France, Credit Agricole's new chief is shaking things up. Just two months into the job and Philippe Brassac is busy reorganising his management team.

But he hasn't been able to work fast enough, due to what he calls "constraints" encountered during talks with the European Central Bank.

That caused shares to fall almost 10 percent, despite a rise in net income in the second quarter to 920 million euros -- from 17 million a year ago.

"Certainly the earnings growth does appear to be coming back and I think going forward really we just have to wait and see as to whether or not the focus on a much more domestic base bears dividends," said Michael Hewson.

Credit Agricole also booked an additional 350 million euros in litigation provisions, which now total 1.6 billion euros.

It's hoping to settle with U.S. authorities over allegations it processed payments for countries and individuals facing U.S. sanctions later this year.