By Ralph Gowling and Steve Slater
LONDON (Reuters) - Major British banks are likely to announce their plans to recapitalize early on Monday, a person familiar with the matter said, a move which could see the government take multi-billion pound stakes in several lenders.
Banks are in talks with the government and regulators to determine how much capital each needs from 50 billion pounds ($86 billion) offered by Britain on Wednesday
An announcement is expected before market opens on Monday, said the source who declined to be identified because of sensitivity of the matter.
The Sunday Times said Royal Bank of Scotland, HBOS, Lloyds TSB and Barclays could ask for a combined 35 billion pound lifeline.
That could result in the government becoming the biggest shareholder -- and even a majority investor -- in RBS and HBOS. It could also force the departure of RBS Chief Executive Fred Goodwin, as shareholders have said he would need to go if the bank seeks to raise more cash.
The government could take seats on the boards of banks, a government source said on Saturday.
Spokespeople for all four banks declined to comment and government officials were not immediately available.
British Finance Minister Alistair Darling, attending a G7 finance ministers' meeting in Washington, said on Saturday the government was to give more details early this week about its already announced 400 billion pound banking rescue plan.
The Sunday Times said the scale of the fund-raising could lead to trading at the London Stock Exchange being suspended to give the market time to digest the impact.
The LSE downplayed that prospect, however. "My information is that the market will open on Monday," a spokesman said.
RBS, which has seen its market value fall to below 12 billion pounds, is to ask ministers to underwrite a 15 billion pound cash call, the Sunday Times said.
HBOS, Britain's biggest provider of mortgages, was seeking up to 10 billion pounds, Lloyds wanted 7 billion pounds and Barclays needed 3 billion pounds, the newspaper said.
Barclays, Britain's second biggest bank, has said it is considering raising capital privately and is expected to try and raise funds from existing shareholders to limit any funds provided by the government.
Lloyds is in the process of buying HBOS and the fundraising could see Lloyds renegotiate the terms of the deal, although both sides were still keen for the merger to go ahead, the Sunday Times said.
Banks were in crisis talks over the weekend with the Treasury, the Financial Services Authority and the Bank of England. The scale of the cash required by each will depend on estimates of more losses from their exposure to subprime mortgages and other financial instruments, the source said.
Last week's multi-billion pound package was aimed at stabilizing banks and getting them lending again, but it failed to halt a collapse in share prices.
The package included a 50 billion pound cash injection, guaranteeing interbank lending by 250 billion sterling to help unfreeze wholesale markets, and extending a Bank of England scheme that swaps banks' risky assets for government debt to provide 200 billion pound of cash to the system.
(Additional reporting by Myles Neligan; Editing by Anshuman Daga)
