Britain kicks off $3.5 billion RBS share sale

Britain is selling around 925 million shares in Royal Bank of Scotland for about 2.6 billion pounds ($3.5 billion) as it seeks to return the bank to private hands, the government unit managing its stake said on Monday.The deal will account for about 7.7 percent of RBS, which was rescued in a 45.5 billion pound bailout at the height of the 2008 financial crisis, reducing the government's stake to 62 percent.Britain will make a loss on that investment, with RBS shares having almost halved in value