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Broker Hargreaves says 120,000 sign up to get Lloyds shares

By Matt Scuffham

LONDON (Reuters) - More than 120,000 investors have registered an interest in buying shares in British bank Lloyds with stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown in the four days since the government put its remaining 2 billion pound stake up for sale.

Hargreaves, one of Britain's biggest retail brokers, said on Thursday the sale of the government's remaining Lloyds stake had proved popular with clients.

"The bank is a trusted ... name and will be offered on attractive terms for investors, which has generated a wave of interest from the public," Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves, said.

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Britain's finance ministry said on Monday it intends to sell the shares next spring to return the bank to full private ownership, after it was rescued during the 2007/09 financial crisis at a cost of 20.5 billion pounds to taxpayers.

The government has already cut its shareholding to less than 12 percent from 43 percent by selling shares to institutional investors such as pension funds and insurers. The final sale will give thousands of retail investors a chance to buy shares at a discount to their market price.

The Lloyds shares are expected to attract savers looking for alternative places to put their cash while interest rates on savings accounts are at record lows.

Lloyds, Europe's third biggest bank by market value, already has more retail investors than any other stock in Britain's FTSE 100 index. It is popular because of the high dividend yield it is expected to offer in the coming years and was one of the biggest dividend payers in the FTSE 100 blue chip index prior to its rescue.

The shares will be offered to retail investors at a discount of 5 percent to the market price, with one bonus share for every 10 shares for those who hold them for more than a year.

(Editing by David Holmes)