Nick Clegg has written to Chancellor George Osborne in support of the proposal Proposals to give the public shares in part-nationalised banks RBS and Lloyds have been backed by Nick Clegg.
The idea is that individual taxpayers would benefit from any long-term gains when shares in the banks are sold.
The deputy prime minister said it was important British people were not overlooked after their money was used to keep the banking system alive.
The Treasury said all options would be considered but some experts have warned the scheme would be difficult to run.
Speaking on a trip to Brazil, Mr Clegg said: “Psychologically it is immensely important that the British people feel they have not just been overlooked and ignored.
“Their money has been used to the tune of billions to keep the British banking system on a life-support machine and they have absolutely no say at all in what happens when normality is restored.
“I think, in a sense, as a society we are condemned to take an interest in our banking system.”
He added: “You are giving the Treasury an assurance that they will break even but you are not giving the Treasury the freedom to grab the windfall if there is one.
“This is something I have discussed a lot with [Business Secretary] Vince [Cable]. Vince and I feel it is something that we want officials to look at.”
Liberal Democrat leader Mr Clegg admitted there remained “a huge amount of detail still to be worked on”.
The idea for so-called people’s shareholdings, first suggested in March, was developed by City firm Portman Capital with the support of the Lib Dems’ Treasury Parliamentary Committee, chaired by backbencher Stephen Williams.
Mr Clegg has written to Chancellor George Osborne in support of the proposal.
Under the plan, the 45 million people on the electoral roll would be given free shares in the bailed-out banks, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group.
The shares would only have any value above a “floor price”, equivalent to what the government paid for the holdings, so the Treasury could cover the cost of its investment.
That price is estimated at 74p per share for Lloyds and 51p for RBS.
A Treasury spokesman said: “While the question hasn’t arisen at the moment, we’ve said we shall look at all options”.
The taxpayer owns 83% of RBS and 41% of Lloyds after the government invested about £65.8bn in 2008 at the height of the banking crisis.
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