Reuters – An activist British hedge fund has taken a 6 percent stake in Washington Mutual Inc as the largest U.S. savings and loan tries to rebound from billions of dollars of mortgage-related losses.

The London-based fund, Toscafund Asset Management, also reported a 5.1 percent stake in Sovereign Bancorp Inc, the second-largest U.S. thrift.

Toscafund revealed the passive stakes in separate filings Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Reuters) – Activist hedge fund Toscafund has raised its stake in Aberdeen Asset Management by around another 50 million pounds to more than 25 percent, continuing its rapid stake-building of recent months.

Toscafund, which is run by Martin Hughes, increased its holding to 25.49 percent on Wednesday from 20.02 percent, according to a statement to the Stock Exchange on Friday, having increased its stake marginally on Monday.

"Aberdeen is an excellent global asset manager covering nearly all product areas. We’re supportive of management and believe their prospects are very good," a Toscafund spokesperson said.

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