Mr. Scott Rankin:

It is also worth remembering that if we have learned nothing in the last ten years it is that bank shares are risky. Government policy is to sell the bank investments, get the money back and use it to do other, more important things. The State would rather it did not hold large investments in the banking sector. The next time there is a recession, and inevitably there will be one, it might be unlikely to happen in the next 12 months but whether it is in three, five, ten years or whenever, bank shares are risky. That is the primary reason why Government policy is to ultimately sell these investments. Stock markets internationally, particularly in the US, appear to be making new highs daily. This stock market rally, or bull market, is very mature, in a few months it will be the longest ever, and we are very conscious of that.