The US government has urged a Minnesota federal court to impose a 20 per cent negligence penalty on Wells Fargo for a US$1.25 billion securities transaction with Barclays Plc, claiming the transaction served no purpose other than to act as a tax shelter. The court action by the US Government, seeking penalty tax, comes after a jury in November upheld the Internal Revenue Service's $76 million tax bill on the transaction involving structured trust advantaged repackaged securities, or STARS, reports specialist US legal news service Law360. Bank of America confirmed overnight (Australian time) that it has agreed to sell MBNA Ltd, its consumer credit card business in the United Kingdom, to Lloyds Banking Group. BoA said in a media release that this sale "completes the transformation of the bank's consumer credit card business from a multi-country, multi-brand business to a single-brand business serving core retail customers in the United States." The transaction is expected to close by mid-2017, subject to regulatory approval. Depending on closing conditions, Bank of America expects to record a minimal after-tax gain associated with the sale. The UK consumer credit card portfolio has approximately US$10 billion in credit card receivables. The transaction does not impact Bank of America's global commercial card business, a part of its global transaction services operations.