Northern Rock

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Northern Rock
Type PLC (State-owned)[1][2]
Founded 1965
Headquarters Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK
Area served UK, Ireland, Denmark
Industry Bank
Services Banking, Mortgages
Revenue £5 billion (2006)
Operating income £627 million (2006)
Profit £443 million (2006)
Owner UK government
Employees 6400
Website www.northernrock.co.uk

Northern Rock plc is a British bank, currently under temporary ownership of the UK government. It is based at Regent Centre in Newcastle upon Tyne in North East England in the United Kingdom. Formerly the Northern Rock Building Society, the bank was formed in 1997 when the society floated on the London Stock Exchange, distributing shares to members who held savings accounts and mortgages. Northern Rock joined the stock exchange as a minor bank and was expected to be taken over by one of its larger rivals, but it has remained independent. In 2000, Northern Rock gained promotion to the FTSE 100 Index, but was demoted back to the FTSE 250 in December 2007[3] and later suspended from the LSE due to the bank's nationalisation.

On 14 September 2007, the Bank sought and received a liquidity support facility from the Bank of England,[4] following problems in the credit markets caused by the US subprime mortgage financial crisis.

At 00:01 on 22 February 2008 the bank was nationalised. The nationalisation was a result of two unsuccessful bids to take over the bank, neither being able to fully commit to repayment of taxpayers' money.[5] The government-appointed Chairman is Ron Sandler, who assumed the position on Monday 18 February.[6] There are no plans to change the name of the bank.[7]

Contents

[edit] History

Northern Rock Building Society was formed in 1965 as a result of the merger of Northern Counties Permanent Building Society (established in 1850) and Rock Building Society (established in 1865). During the 30 years that followed, Northern Rock expanded by acquiring 53 smaller building societies, most notably the North of England Building Society in 1994[8]. Along with many other UK building societies in the 1990s, Northern Rock chose to demutualise and float on the stock exchange in order to better expand their business. Throughout this period a concern against demutualisation was that the assets of a mutual society was built up by its members throughout its history not just the present members who would benefit, and that demutualisation was a betrayal of the community that the societies were created to serve. [9] [10] [11] [12] Northern Rock chose to address these concerns by founding the Northern Rock Foundation.[13] From 1 October 1997 until the government nationlisation, the bank used the symbol NRK on the London Stock Exchange.

[edit] Location

The 1990s buildings at Regent Centre
The 1990s buildings at Regent Centre

The bank is based on a large site at the Regent Centre in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne. It has customer contact centre operations at both Doxford International Business Park in Sunderland and at its head office. The bank is also developing a site at Rainton Bridge. The company is midway through a redevelopment of the Gosforth site, which saw the demolition of the original 1960s tower block during Spring 2006. A new tower block is due to be completed by the end of 2008, to act as the main entrance to the company headquarters.

The Gosforth site currently consists of the Kielder and Prudhoe buildings, completed in the early 1990s, behind which lies the distinctive glass-fronted Alnwick building. The main Atrium reception is adjacent to this, opening out onto the recently completed Baker Street, a large covered mall that houses a restaurant, shop and on-site branch. A number of other buildings, all named after North-Eastern castles are joined to Baker Street.

A sub-division in Guernsey was established in February 1996, [14] handling offshore savings and investment accounts.

Northern Rock opened a branch in Ireland on 16 November 1999[15] and the first branch in Northern Ireland followed on 4 April 2007. The first branch of the bank opened in Denmark on 7 February 2007[16]; however as part of the Government restructuring, the Danish operations will cease by the end of 2008.

[edit] Corporate image

Northern Rock logo used until 2000
Northern Rock logo used until 2000

In the year 2000 Northern Rock introduced a new corporate identity consisting of a magenta square containing the company name. This replaced the NR 'blocks' logo. To this day however, some branches still display the old logo. The Northern Rock Foundation also changed its logo in 2003 from the NR 'blocks' inline with the main company, using the same new typeface. The Red Box Design Group have designed all of the currently standing buildings at the company's headquarters in Gosforth[17][18][19][20][21][22] and have contributed to many of the other design aspects of the company, such as the in-branch styling.[23]

[edit] Business

A typical Northern Rock branch, on Northumberland Street, Newcastle upon Tyne
A typical Northern Rock branch, on Northumberland Street, Newcastle upon Tyne

Northern Rock is one of the top five mortgage lenders in the United Kingdom in terms of gross lending.

As well as mortgages, the bank also deals with savings accounts, current accounts, loans and insurance. The company also promotes secured loans to its existing mortgage customers. The unsecured loans business is administered and underwritten by Ventura based in Leeds. Home and contents insurance is dealt with by AXA whilst Legal & General, whose mortgage book Northern Rock took over, arrange insurance and stock-market-based investments. Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) can be arranged with London-based Cardif Pinnacle.[24]

In 2003, to free capital for its rapid growth in mortgage lending, the bank sold its credit card business to The Co-operative Bank for a profit of more than £7 million. Until November 2007 Northern Rock continued to sell credit cards under their own brand through The Co-operative Bank; the decision to stop was made before the 2007 crisis.[25]

In 2006 the bank had moved into sub-prime lending via a deal with Lehman Brothers. Although the mortgages are sold under Northern Rock's brand through intermediaries, the risk is being underwritten by Lehman Brothers.[26][27]

[edit] Board of Directors

The Chief Executive is Andy Kuipers, who joined the company in 1987. The company is focused on developing its own staff and so, most appointments are made internally. After phase one of the sale process was completed in November 2007, John Devaney and Simon Laffin joined the board, Sir Derek Wanless, Nichola Pease, Adam Fenwick and Rosemary Radcliffe retired as Non Executive Directors, The previous Chief Executive Adam Applegarth resigned but stayed on in a caretaker role until December 2007. David Baker and Keith Currie left the board but remain employed within the company.

As of December 2007, the Board of Directors comprised:[28][29]

  • Chairman: Bryan Sanderson
  • Chief Executive: Andy Kuipers
  • Group Finance Director: David A. Jones
  • Non-Executive Directors: Sir Ian Gibson, Michael J. Queen, John Devaney, Simon Laffin

In February 2008 Ron Sandler was appointed executive Chairman by the government.

[edit] Sponsorship

The company sponsored many local sports clubs and events, including Newcastle United Football Club,[30] Newcastle Falcons (rugby union), Newcastle Eagles (basketball), Durham and Middlesex County Cricket clubs, professional golfer Paul Eales and the cycling festival Northern Rock Cyclone.[31]

The sponsorship of Newcastle United began in 2003, and was set to expire in 2010. The current five year deal from 2005 to 2010 was worth £25 million.[32]

In 2005, to coincide with the Spirit of the Tall Ships Festival, Northern Rock enlisted the help of Red Box Interiors to create a temporary art installation at The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art on the Gateshead Quay of the Tyne. The art entitled "Northern Rock @ Baltic" included mobile light stem sculptures and large scale external graphics.[33]

In 2007, almost three weeks before the bank had to appeal to the Bank of England for an emergency loan, the bank bought the home ground of Newcastle Falcons Rugby Club, Kingston Park stadium[32] for £15 million. In February 2008, documents relating to the sale came to light, attracting much criticism that the purchase has been made at a time of impending crisis.[34]

It was confirmed on 20 May 2008 that Northern Rock would continue to sponsor both Newcastle United and the Newcastle Falcons, the former due to the long term agreement between themselves and the club. Chief Executive Ron Sandler was quoted as saying:

"We have already ended a number of sponsorships that I inherited... but we have chosen to continue the sponsorship of Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons, partly because of commitments we have entered into there - sometimes sponsorships continue until they come to a contractual end - and partly because I believe it is in the commercial interest of the bank that we should continue with both of these."

[edit] Northern Rock Foundation

The company donates substantial amounts annually to its own charity, the Northern Rock Foundation. The foundation was formed when the company was floated, with an initial donation of 15% of the share capital and a covenant to donate 5% of the company's annual profit thereafter.[35][36] In 2006, Northern Rock was the second largest charitable giver in the FTSE 100 after ITV. [37]

In April 1996, when the Building Society was considering demutualisation, plans were announced by the then chairman, Robert Dickinson, for the creation of the foundation. Since the official launch of the foundation in January 1998, it has steadily grown and expanded its activities. In 2003, along with a new logo and the introduction of new programmes, the Foundation moved to a new building – the renovated Old Chapel in Gosforth.At the end of 2006 the foundation received £28.2 million investment. By the end of 2007 £190 million had been donated to the foundation, by Northern Rock.

Nationalisation will end the covenant requiring Northern Rock to remit a share of profits to the Foundation. Instead, for the next three years the Foundation will receive an annual £15 million payment from Northern Rock, whether it remains publicly-owned or returns to the private sector. The Foundation's shares will be cancelled and compensated in the same way as those of other shareholders.[38]

[edit] 2007 credit crisis

People queuing outside a branch to withdraw their savings due to fallout from the subprime crisis.
People queuing outside a branch to withdraw their savings due to fallout from the subprime crisis.

On 12 September 2007, Northern Rock asked the Bank of England, as lender of last resort in the United Kingdom, for a liquidity support facility due to problems in raising funds in the money market to replace maturing money market borrowings.[39] The problems arose from difficulties banks faced over the summer of 2007 in raising funds in the money markets, caused by the subprime crisis in the United States. The bank's assets were always sufficient to cover its liabilities, but it had a liquidity problem because institutional lenders became nervous about lending to mortgage banks following the US sub-prime crisis. Bank of England figures suggest that Northern Rock borrowed £3bn from the Bank of England in the first few days of this crisis.[40]

With shares in Northern Rock plummeting by nearly a third, the British Government moved to reassure investors with the bank, with account holders urged not to worry about the bank going bust. The Treasury select committee chairman John McFall MP said: "I don't think customers of Northern Rock should be worried about their current accounts or mortgages."[41][42]

Northern Rock is not the only British bank to have called on the Bank of England for funds since the sub-prime crisis began[43] but is the only one to have had emergency financial support from the Tripartite Authority (The Bank of England, the FSA and HM Treasury).[44] However, the bank is more vulnerable to a credit crunch as its 'high risk' [45] business model depends on funding from the wholesale credit markets, 75% of its funds coming from this source.[46] In his address to the Treasury Select Committee, Bank of England governor Mervyn King had stated emergency funds would be made available to any British bank that needed it, but at a penalty rate, to ensure that lenders who had made bad lending decisions would suffer unfair advantages relative to lenders who had made sensible lending decisions.[47]

On Friday 14 September, the first day branches opened following the news, many customers queued outside branches to withdraw their savings (a run on the bank).[48] It was estimated that £1 billion was withdrawn by customers that day, about 5% of the total bank deposits held by the Northern Rock.[49] In one incident, police were called to the branch in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire when two joint account holders barricaded the bank manager in her office after she refused to let them withdraw £1 million from their account. Their money was held in an internet only account, which they were unable to obtain after the Northern Rock website became inaccessible due to the volume of customers trying to log on.[50]

On Monday 17 September, as worried savers continued to flock to some Northern Rock bank branches to withdraw their savings, it was reported that an estimated £2 billion had been withdrawn since the bank applied to the Bank of England for emergency funds. By early afternoon in London, Northern Rock's shares, which had lost 32% on the previous Friday, fell a further 40% from 438 pence to 263 pence.[51] Later that day, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, announced that the British Government and the Bank of England would guarantee all deposits held at Northern Rock.[52] Northern Rock shares rose by 16% after this was announced.

The announcement by the Chancellor showed its intended effects the next day, as the queues outside Northern Rock's branches gradually disappeared. In addition, Northern Rock had a series of adverts published in major UK newspapers to reaffirm that their customers' money was safe.[53]

In an interview on BBC Radio 4, Bank of England governor Mervyn King revealed that they had anticipated emergency funding to be in the £20-30bn range.[54]

“ What we want to do is to give incentives for people to behave properly, so in judging the interest rate at which we lent to Northern Rock we asked ourselves the question: "At what interest rate would they have to pay in borrowing from us today that would make them regret not having taken out an insurance policy as Countrywide did before the 9th of August?" ”

— Bank of England governor, Mervyn King, BBC Radio 4 – File on 4

Matt Ridley was forced to resign as chairman in 2007, having been blamed in parliamentary committee hearings for not recognizing the risks of the bank's financial strategy and thereby "harming the reputation of the British banking industry."[55]

In December, the EU regulators approved Britain's actions to provide aid to the Bank by concluding that it was in line with European emergency aid rules.[56]

By January 2008, Northern Rock's loan from the Bank of England had grown to £26bn. On January 11, Northern Rock announced that it had sold its portfolio of lifetime home equity release mortgages to JP Morgan for £2.2bn and that it would use this to pay off a piece of the Bank of England loan.[57][58] On January 15, 2008, a meeting was held at the 11,000 seater Metro Radio Arena to discuss the current situation at the bank; all but one of the proposals put forward by the hedge funds were rejected.

On February 6, the Office for National Statistics announced that it was treating Northern Rock as a public corporation, similar to the BBC and Royal Mail for accounting purposes, causing the loans (approximately £25 billion) and guarantees (approximately £30 billion) extended by the Bank of England and the value of the company's mortgage book (approximately £55 billion), provisionally estimated to total around £100 billion, to be added to the National Debt.[59] Although not technically a nationalisation, the decision effectively acknowledged that "In all but name, Northern Rock is now nationalised".[60] The cost of this support increased the National Debt from £537 billion, or 37.7% of GDP to around 45%,[59] breaking the so-called Golden Rule which sets the Public Sector Borrowing Requirement threshold at below 40%. The figure is the equivalent of £3,000 for every family in Britain, or an increase in the base rate of income tax of 28 pence in the pound [written before nationalisation - check accuracy] [61]. In the 2008 Budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that the government will issue £14 billion of gilts in order to cover the Northern Rock debt [62].

On 26 March the Financial Services Authority released an internal report into the failings over handling the problems at Northern Rock. "They found that their supervision of the bank had not been carried out to a standard that is acceptable". The previous FSA review had taken place in February 2006[63]. In the light of these failings at Northern Rock, the FSA announced that they would overhaul their own staffing and systems[64]. The FSA internal report also concluded that ultimately the blame for the collapse of Northern Rock should sit at the feet of the bank's senior management. "The boards and managements of regulated firms carry the primary responsibility for ensuring their institutions' financial soundness," the FSA said. The British Bankers' Association (BBA), the UK banking body, agreed.[65]

On 31 March the bank released its annual report for 2007, it showed a loss of £167 million. The former boss, Adam Applegarth is also to receive a £760,000 (£63,333 a month) payoff.[66] The report also outlined further details of their proposed business plan. [67]

[edit] Takeover offers

On 12 October 2007, Virgin Group announced that they intended to bid for Northern Rock as the lead of a coalition including American giant AIG, turnaround specialist WL Ross and First Eastern Investment. Had the deal been successful, Northern Rock would have been integrated into Virgin Money,[68] as Virgin Bank.[69] It is unclear what role partners will have in the deal. This bid was later approved by the UK Treasury and has been noted as the preferred option.[70] Virgin announced that Peter McNamara, a former Alliance & Leicester managing director, would be responsible for risk management at Northern Rock if its bid succeeds.[71]

The other front runner was an investment company Olivant, headed by the former chief executive of Abbey, Luqman Arnold.[72] Olivant would have kept the Northern Rock brand.[73] By 17 November, a total of ten companies had put forward proposals for the bank. Among the other suitors for Northern Rock were private equity firm Cerberus,[74] JC Flowers[75] and Lloyds TSB.[76] In early December JC Flowers, dropped out of the bidding.[77]

Northern Rock announced that all offers had been "materially below" the previous trading value. Alistair Darling said on 19 November that the Government would have to approve or veto any sale, in the interests of taxpayers, depositors and wider financial stability.[78] In December the Government prepared emergency legislation to nationalise the Bank, in the event that the takeover bids fail.[79] On 12 January 2008, the Treasury recruited Ron Sandler, the former Lloyd's of London Chief Executive, to lead Northern Rock, in the event that the bank is nationalised.[80] If the Bank was to be temporary nationalised, the government would manage the Bank at "arms' length" on a commercial basis, where services for savers and borrowers would not be affected and the company would continue to operate as normal. However nationalisation would also address the future of the Northern Rock Foundation.[81] Alistair Darling rejected the possibility of the Bank being put into administration.

On December 15, Northern Rock hired the bank Goldman Sachs to put together a financing package, to assemble backers and present proposals to its board. This package would be available to any potential bidder for the bank.[82]

The deadline for bids was 4 February 2008, where final bids were expected from Virgin, Olivant and the bank’s management; other bidders could still have expressed interest. Goldman Sachs were likely to contact Cerberus and JC Flowers to see if they would like to rejoin the bidding, now that the situation has materially changed.[83] When a successful proposal has been chosen, it will be put to the European Commission by 17 March, which would consider whether it conformed to EU state aid rules.[84] Olivant pulled out of the bidding (but stated that they may have still attempted a rescue bid if the Government changed their conditions[85]) on 4 February leaving just the Virgin bid and the in-house bid, led by Paul Thompson and Andy Kuipers[86]

For repayment of the Government loans, there was a proposal to create an 'asset pool' at the bank, of a size greater than the loans. The bidder would have issued bonds against this asset pool, with maturities set inline with the repayment. Proceeds from the bond issue would have also gone to the Government and the bank would have paid for a government guarantee for the bonds to trade in the market at or near prices of similar gilt-edged stocks.[84] This would have replaced the original plan for the bidders to have to find their own investors to cover the first £15bn, which proved impossible, due to the credit crunch.[87] The government would also continue to guarantee the Bank's liabilities, such as savers’ deposits.[84]

[edit] Nationalisation

On 17 February 2008, Alistair Darling, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced that Northern Rock was to be nationalised[5] claiming that the private bids did not offer "sufficient value for money to the taxpayer" and thus the bank will be brought under a "temporary period of public ownership".[88][89] The government would be the shareholders and manage the Bank at "arms' length" on a commercial basis. Customers are not affected by this change. A Government-appointed arbitration panel will decide on a fair price for the compensation to be offered to investors for their shares.[90] Prior to the markets opening on 18 February, trading in Northern Rock's ordinary and preference shares was suspended.[38] The Act of Parliament providing for nationalisation is the Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008.[91] At 00:01 on 22 February Northern Rock was formally nationalised.

It has subsequently become known that the best book of Northern Rock's mortgage business, comprising of mortgages worth £47 billion - some 40% of the company's assets - had been transferred to a Channel Islands based company called Granite, together with an ongoing obligation to continue to supply business. Failure to maintain the arrangement could cost a reported £5 billion.[92] Granite was set up as a charitable trust to benefit a small charity, Down's Syndrome North East; despite having assets worth an estimated £45 billion, Granite has never made a donation to the charity.[93]

“ At Northern Rock's heart is Granite, a £45bn securitisation vehicle though which mortgages are parcelled up and sold to investors. Under 'substitution clauses' in Granite, investors can call in their loans if maturing mortgages are not replaced with new ones.

Should the clauses be triggered, investors could demand their funding back - potentially leaving the Government with an immediate £45bn bill. At the moment, only £25bn of taxpayer's money has actually gone into Northern Rock, through Bank of England loans. The rest of the support is via state guarantees, which the Treasury would prefer are not drawn upon.

'Granite is the reason the Government opted for nationalisation and did not put it into administration,' one senior Northern Rock insider said. Administration would also have triggered the clause.

Granite matures in tranches, with roughly £5bn expected to come up this year and £10bn next. As the Government regains control of the vehicle, it can run it down or sell it off. Either way, the obligation will last almost five years. Hence, bankers' fervent belief that "temporary public ownership" will not be anything of the sort.[94]

 ”

On 18 March, Northern Rock announced the measures that they would be taking to reduce their Government debt, hopefully entirely within three to four years[95]. The bank is to cut around a third of jobs (2,000) by 2011; on 1 May the bank confirmed that they would be initialising talks with the unions and that most of the job losses would be later in 2008[96]. They are also aiming to halve their £100 billion loan book by either selling off some mortgage assets to other lenders or possibly by declining to offer new mortgages to existing customers[97]. On 18 March, Northern Rock announced the termination of its Danish savings operation. All accounts in the Danish branch will be closed on 18 April 2008.[98] On 5 June it was announced that Lloyds TSB would assume a proportion of the Northern Rock mortgage book over, 3 years; this would be achieved by Lloyds TSB offering new mortgages to Northern Rock customers who are nearing the end of their fixed-rate deals[99].

Two hedge funds which own 20% of the bank, SRM Global and RAB Capital, are planning to take legal action against the Government, regulators and individuals who they believe to be responsible for the problems at the bank; they believe that it was their poor actions that led to the current state. In May Legal & General joined the hedge funds, as an "interested party"[100]. The hedge funds are to request that an independent valuer assesses a fair level of compensation and to argue that the banks shares are worth more than the final price of their trading prior to nationalisation. This legal action is thought to have started on 8 May[101].

[edit] References

  1. ^ Northern Rock now in public hands. BBC News (2008-02-22). Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  2. ^ The Northern Rock plc Transfer Order 2008 (PDF). HM Treasury (2008-02-22). Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  3. ^ "Northern Rock drops from FTSE 100", 2007-12-12. Retrieved on 2008-02-20. 
  4. ^ Bank of England (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  5. ^ a b Northern Rock to be nationalised. BBC News (2008-02-17). Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
  6. ^ "Rock recovery is Sandler's goal". Retrieved on 2008-02-20. 
  7. ^ Northern Rock chairman Sandler says turnaround to take years - Forbes.com (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  8. ^ Tyne and Wear Archives Service - Reference numbers DT.NP, DT.NR and DX767
  9. ^ "Building societies resist carpetbaggers". Retrieved on 2008-02-20. 
  10. ^ House of Commons Hansard Debates for 10 Mar 1997 (pt 28) (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  11. ^ House of Commons Hansard Debates for 17 Mar 1997 (pt 17) (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  12. ^ Anthony Hilton of the Evening Standard on the battle for Standard Life (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  13. ^ History:Northern Rock Foundation. Retrieved on 2008-04-08.
  14. ^ Northern Rock (Guernsey) Limited - About Us (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  15. ^ Northern Rock celebrates 5th anniversary of Irish launch. Northern Rock Ireland (2004-11-16). Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  16. ^ (Danish) Northern Rock (Denmark) - Nyheder (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  17. ^ Northern Rock Building Society Headquarters 1992. Red Box Architecture. Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  18. ^ Northern Rock 1994. Red Box Architecture. Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  19. ^ Northern Rock Campus Development Phase 2. Red Box Architecture. Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  20. ^ Northern Rock 2005. Red Box Architecture. Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  21. ^ Northern Rock - Phase 4. Red Box Architecture. Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  22. ^ Northern Rock Tower 2008. Red Box Architecture. Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  23. ^ Northern Rock Roll-out. Red Box Architecture. Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  24. ^ Pinnacle Insurance. Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  25. ^ Northern Rock and Co-op cancel credit card tie-up. The Independent (2008-02-12). Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
  26. ^ "Northern Rock ups sub-prime rates", BBC, 24 August 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-17. 
  27. ^ "Stock Exchange Announcement Northern Rock PLC: Trading Statement For The 9 Months To 30 September 2006", Northern Rock, 02.10.2006. Retrieved on 2007-09-17. 
  28. ^ London Stock Exchange Regulatory News Service (16 November 2007). "NORTHERN ROCK PLC BOARD CHANGES". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  29. ^ London Stock Exchange Regulatory News Service (14 December 2007). "Northern Rock Update". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  30. ^ "Magpies extend sponsorship deal", BBC News, 2004-04-20. Retrieved on 2008-04-08. 
  31. ^ Northern Rock Cyclone. Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  32. ^ a b Newcastle seek Northern Rock talks. The Daily Telegraph (2008-02-21). Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  33. ^ Northern Rock @ Baltic. Red Box Interiors. Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  34. ^ Northern Rock bought rugby fields three weeks before crisis. The Daily Telegraph (2008-02-28). Retrieved on 2008-02-28.
  35. ^ About Us. Northern Rock Foundation. Retrieved on 2007-09-16.
  36. ^ "Northern Rock squeezes out 2 m charity boost", BBC, Wednesday, 28 January, 1998. Retrieved on 2007-09-16. 
  37. ^ "Top 10 Corporate Foundations". Retrieved on 2008-02-20. 
  38. ^ a b Northern Rock plc, HM Treasury, February 17, 2008
  39. ^ "Northern Rock gets bank bail out". Retrieved on 2008-02-20. 
  40. ^ FT.com / Home UK / UK - £3bn lent to Northern Rock (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  41. ^ Northern Rock denies financial problems (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.[dead link]
  42. ^ Thal Larsen, Peter. "Bank of England to bail out Northern Rock", Financial Times, 13 September 2007. 
  43. ^ Barclays again taps emergency facility - International Business Times - (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  44. ^ Tripartite Authority - Statement re Northern Rock  (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  45. ^ Fifth Report. House of Commons (2008-01-24). Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  46. ^ Weakened Northern Rock may face bid - Telegraph (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  47. ^ King, Mervyn (12 September 2007), “Turmoil In Financial Markets: What Can Central Banks Do ?”, Treasury Committee 
  48. ^ "Late Queues For Bank's Anxious Customers". Retrieved on 2008-02-20. 
  49. ^ "Rush on Northern Rock continues". Retrieved on 2008-02-20. 
  50. ^ Northern Rock: Businessman barricades in branch manager for refusing to give him £1 million savings (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  51. ^ BBC NEWS (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  52. ^ "Northern Rock deposits guaranteed". Retrieved on 2008-02-20. 
  53. ^ "Timeline: Northern Rock bank crisis". Retrieved on 2008-04-21. 
  54. ^ "File on 4" (PDF), Mervyn King Interview, BBC Radio 4, 6 November 2007. 
  55. ^ Northern Rock chairman quits after criticism from lawmakers. International Herald Tribune (2007-10-19). Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
  56. ^ AFP: EU regulators approve Northern Rock bailout (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  57. ^ Northern Rock repays £2bn of £26bn Bank of England loan (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  58. ^ Northern Rock: Corporate Relations: Newsroom (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  59. ^ a b Nation hit with £100bn Northern Rock debts. The Daily Telegraph (2008-02-08). Retrieved on 2008-02-08.
  60. ^ Treasury suffers from Northern Rock debt - Telegraph (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  61. ^ Northern Rock puts billions down the drain - Telegraph (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  62. ^ Budget 2008: Government to issue Rock gilts - The Daily Telegraph (2008). Retrieved on 2008-03-13.
  63. ^ FSA admits failings over Northern Rock. Financial Times (2008-03-26). Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  64. ^ Northern Rock fiasco leads to FSA revamp. The Guardian (2008-03-27). Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  65. ^ Watchdog admits failure over Rock. BBC News (2008-03-26). Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  66. ^ Huge payoff for Northern Rock boss. Northumberland Gazette (2008-03-31). Retrieved on 2008-03-31.
  67. ^ Full year results for 2007 and further details of its proposed business plan. Northern Rock (2008-03-31). Retrieved on 2008-03-31.
  68. ^ "Virgin pursues Northern Rock deal". Retrieved on 2008-02-20. 
  69. ^ Northern Rock’s last chance – accept a deal or else - Times Online (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  70. ^ "Virgin poised for Rock takeover". Retrieved on 2008-02-20. 
  71. ^ Virgin consortium strengthens Northern Rock bid - report - Forbes.com (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  72. ^ Abbey boss swoops on ailing Rock - Times Online (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  73. ^ Olivant Advisors Ltd - Statement re Northern Rock, Reuters (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  74. ^ Virgin to name Northern Rock team (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  75. ^ Free Preview - WSJ.com (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  76. ^ "Cameron criticises Rock 'failure'". Retrieved on 2008-02-20. 
  77. ^ JC Flowers seen exiting N. Rock race, Reuters (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  78. ^ Northern Rock sale faces Treasury veto - Accountancy Age (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  79. ^ "CNNMoney.com: 404 Page Not Found". Retrieved on 2008-02-20. [dead link]
  80. ^ "Treasury lines up new Rock boss". Retrieved on 2008-02-20. 
  81. ^ Press: 2008-04 (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  82. ^ Goldman hired to aid Northern Rock rescue (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  83. ^ Northern Rock shares surge on bid hopes - Telegraph (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  84. ^ a b c Government seeks share in any Rock upside, FT.com, 21 January 2008
  85. ^ Olivant not ruling out return to Northern Rock auction - source - Forbes.com (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  86. ^ Private equity bidder Olivant pulls out of battle for Northern Rock (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  87. ^ Q&A: The Northern Rock deal explained - Times Online (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  88. ^ Northern Rock to be nationalised (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  89. ^ Chancellor to nationalise Northern Rock - Times Online (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  90. ^ Q&A: what now for Northern Rock? - Times Online (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-20.
  91. ^ Banking (Special Provisions) Bill (PDF). HM Treasury (2008-02-18). Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  92. ^ Northern Rock's 'best mortgages' sold offshore - The Daily Telegraph, February 21, 2008. (2008). Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
  93. ^ Charity used to raise billions - but got nothing. The Daily Telegraph (2008-02-22). Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  94. ^ The state of Northern Rock: anything but usual. The Daily Telegraph (2008-02-20). Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  95. ^ Northern Rock to axe a third of staff. The Telegraph (2008-03-18). Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
  96. ^ Northern Rock starts talks to cut one third of staff. The Times (2008-05-01). Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  97. ^ Northern Rock cuts mortgages and axes 2,000 jobs. The Times (2008-03-18). Retrieved on 2008-03-18.
  98. ^ Northern Rock lukker sin danske afdeling (PDF) (Danish). Northern Rock Bank Danmark (2008-03-18). Retrieved on 2008-03-25.
  99. ^ Lloyds TSB in 3-year deal to offer mortgages to Northern Rock customers. Forbes (2008-06-05). Retrieved on 2008-06-05.
  100. ^ Legal & General joins legal action over Rock valuation. The Independent (2008-05-24). Retrieved on 2008-05-24.
  101. ^ Northern Rock investors begin legal battle. The Times (2008-05-08). Retrieved on 2008-05-08.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:


v • d • e
Bank chains in the United Kingdom
Commercial banks:
Private banks:
State-owned banks: