The Royal Mail privatisation will be the subject of fresh scrutiny by MPs next week when bankers from Goldman Sachs and UBS – which handled the sell-off of the 500-year-old institution – are summoned to give evidence to a high-profile parliamentary committee. The public accounts committee, chaired by Margaret Hodge, who has previously conducted tough evidence sessions on corporate tax, will also hear from top City regulators and senior executives at Royal Mail at sessions next week. Her committee, which convened the Royal Mail hearings in the wake of the National Audit Office's damning verdict on the privatisation, is expected to scrutinise how 16 City firms were allowed priority access to the shares. The shares were sold at 330p on 11 October, when they jumped 38% immediately, sparking a furore about whether a prime state-owned asset had been sold off on the cheap. The shares closed last night at 532p, still well above the initial offering price but off highs of more than 600p.