The European Commission said on Tuesday it is in the last lap of negotiations with the British treasury on restructuring the state-rescued banks Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland.
"The European Commission is making very good progress in its contacts with the UK authorities on ensuring compliance with EU state aid rules as regards the restructuring of both Lloyds and RBS," said a spokesman.
"The commission intends to adopt decisions on these cases in the coming weeks," he added.
RBS and Lloyds Banking Group must sell assets amounting to about 10 percent of Britain's troubled retail banking market, the government in London said earlier on Tuesday.
In return for more state aid amounting to some 30 billion pounds (33.4 billion euros, 49 billion dollars), Lloyds and RBS will have to cut bonuses to top staff and increase lending to recession-struck businesses and individuals.
Ahead of Tuesday's announcement, RBS had revealed on Monday that it would axe about 3,700 jobs across its British retail operations.
Lloyds Banking Group added on Tuesday that it would offload Lloyds branches in Scotland, its Cheltenham & Gloucester branches, and the Intelligent Finance online unit.
The Treasury has reached agreement "in principle" with EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes over the restructuring.
Regulatory authorities are concerned that such state-backed banks have an unfair advantage over other institutions which weathered the global financial storm without government aid, such as Barclays and HSBC.
Brussels has already ordered state-rescued banks from other European countries to offload assets in order to even out competition in national markets, such as Germany's WestLB and Commerzbank.
Last week, ING said it would sell off its insurance operations and raise up to 7.5 billion euros. The commission had used virtually identical language to describe progress in negotiations there.
As Kroes heads towards the end of her tenure in the plum competition job, she has made a concerted drive to rein in banks previously considered "too big to fail."
Belgium's KBC and Franco-Belgian bank Dexia must also negotiate disposals with the commission.
