The convertible bond market can offer a better way for the state to sell shares

For a country that plays home to arguably the world’s greatest financial centre, it is curious that when it comes to big deals just how few British institutions are big players. The list of past UK privatisations reveals a world of vanished names and faded glory from a time before Wall Street had taken over the City.

The point was driven home on Monday evening after the London market had shut, when UK Government Investments announced the first sale of Royal Bank of Scotland shares in three years. Not one British bank was listed as an adviser on the deal.

Instead, a line-up of Wall Street’s heaviest hitters — Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley — were hired to sell the shares, while