Northern Rock

19 Stories

Northern Rock: Post Mortem of a Spectacular Fall

Reckless play on global stage brought 'Northern Wreck' to its knees

(Newser) - The collapse of Northern Rock, Britains third-largest lender, was "the messiest banking crisis in the Western world resulting from the global credit crunch,'' a UK lawmaker tells Bloomberg in a post mortem of the disaster. “They really screwed it up,” said one analyst of the bank’...

Rogue Traders Bag $200M in Credit Hysteria

False emails drive down stock of UK mortgage lender

(Newser) - The UK's financial regulator is probing whether malicious traders attacked the share price of the country's largest mortgage lender yesterday by spreading rumors it faced a major liquidity crisis. The Telegraph reports that HBOS saw its shares plunge 20% as an email circulated suggesting the firm was facing trouble. The...

How Bad Is Northern Rock?
How Bad Is Northern Rock?
OPINION

How Bad Is Northern Rock?

Pundits examine the fallout of unavoidable nationalization

(Newser) - The subprime crisis has forced the British government to do what it dreaded: nationalize a bank. What's the fallout from the Northern Rock takeover?
  • Gordon Brown "put quite a good face" on an unpalatable decision, says Philip Stephens of the Financial Times. Nationalization hasn't hurt him much, but the
...

UK Nationalizes Northern Rock
UK Nationalizes Northern Rock

UK Nationalizes Northern Rock

Bank takeover marks desperate move for British ministers

(Newser) - British ministers plan to nationalize Northern Rock as part of a bold, desperate move to rescue the struggling bank, the BBC reports. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said two private bids to take over Northern Rock failed to offer “sufficient value for money to the taxpayer,” adding...

Nationalization May Loom for Northern Rock

Branson's Virgin bid for troubled bank needs improvement, UK gov't says

(Newser) - Troubled British mortgage lender Northern Rock’s share price plummeted 8% today as rumors of government nationalization grew after the Treasury panned rescue plans offered by Richard Branson's Virgin Group and a competing version from the bank’s management team, the BBC reports. Though shareholders reportedly prefer management's bid, the...

Northern Rock Plan Backfires on Brown
Northern Rock Plan Backfires on Brown
OPINION

Northern Rock Plan Backfires on Brown

Scathing critics slam Labour handling of bank's failure

(Newser) - A day after the chancellor of the exchequer announced new plans to accelerate the sale of Northern Rock, the British press sees serious trouble for Gordon Brown's government and no certainty that the taxpayers' $110 billion will be repaid. Anatole Kaletsky, a leading Times columnist who has been sympathetic to...

Northern Rock Bailout Plan a Money Shuffle

Deal pays back government loans, but public still on the hook

(Newser) - The British government today unveiled its last-gasp plan to hand off the Northern Rock hot potato and prevent nationalization, the London Times reports. Under the plan, the bank would immediately pay back the £25 billion it owes the government by selling the debt to private investors as bonds. But...

UK To Introduce Sweeping Bank Reforms

Darling announces regulatory shift after Northern Rock fiasco

(Newser) - Britain's chancellor will offer sweeping new powers to that country's equivalent of the SEC to intervene in the event of a banking crisis. In an interview with the Financial Times, Alistair Darling presented a set of triggers that would allow the Financial Services Authority to step in and protect assets...

Brits Hatch Secret Plan to Bail Out Northern Rock

No good options for struggling bank

(Newser) - Worried that the state might be stuck nationalizing Northern Rock, Britain has worked up a contingency plan behind closed doors to divide the troubled bank among the country’s commercial banks. A private buyout is still preferable, the Guardian reports, but some now fear the main bidders will back out,...

Northern Rock Boss Quits as Fall Continues

$570M writedown posted; sale of troubled bank months away

(Newser) - The CEO of collapsing British bank Northern Rock quit this morning without comment, reports the Financial Times. Adam Applegarth resigned last month but had pledged to stay on as CEO until the end of January to guide the struggling company through its upcoming sale. But investors are troubled by the...

Northern Rock Looks to Virgin as Savior

Stock soars as Branson leads consortium to buy stricken lender

(Newser) - A consortium led by billionaire Richard Branson is the government’s “preferred bidder” in an effort to rescue embattled UK mortgage lender Northern Rock, Bloomberg reports. Virgin Group says it will immediately pay back $22.5 billion of the $50 billion the Bank of England loaned Northern Rock to...

UK Accused of Cover-Up in Data Loss
UK Accused of Cover-Up in Data Loss

UK Accused of Cover-Up in Data Loss

Higher-ups okayed sending files with personal info on 25M

(Newser) - Alistair Darling's disastrous week continued today as the British chancellor of the exchequer faced accusations of a cover-up in the lost-data fiasco, the Telegraph reports. Contrary to Darling's claim that the loss of 25 million people's data was an error by a junior administrator, newly released e-mails indicate senior tax...

Northern Rock Plummets 40% as Britain Seeks Buyer

Bank crisis spells political trouble

(Newser) - In Britain the meltdown of Northern Rock has expanded into a full-out political crisis. The bank's stock plummeted 40% this morning to trade at less than a dollar a share, the Financial Times reports. The collapse of Northern Rock spells serious trouble for Alistair Darling, the chancellor, who is desperate...

Branson's Virgin Group Bids for Northern Rock

Beleaguered British mortgage lender's stock jumps 7% on news

(Newser) - Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is officially making a bid for Britain’s Northern Rock, the Times of London reports. Branson hopes to merge the bank with Virgin Money and then rebrand it, keeping the company independent. “If we are successful we'll be able to create an exciting new...

UK Bank Chief Takes Heat After U-Turn

Rescue of Northern Rock leads to calls for resignation

(Newser) - The leader of the Bank of England, the Fed's counterpart in the UK, is facing substantial pressure to resign. Only last week Mervyn King had declined to offer loans for inter-bank trading to ease credit markets, vowing to discourage the "moral hazard" of risk-taking that led to Northern Rock's...

British Bank Rebounds as Panic Wears Off

Financial stocks see gains on Northern Rock guarantees

(Newser) - As the lines of people waiting to make withdrawals from Northern Rock bank dwindled today, the British lender’s stock rose, bringing with it other hard-hit British financials. Northern Rock's huge losses in the mortgage market sparked a sell-off, drawing emergency funds from the Bank of England. But the government's...

Bank Meltdown Wallops the British Market

Thousands still lining up outside branches; spiral could hurt PM

(Newser) - Shares of British mortgage lender Northern Rock crashed again today, causing heavy losses in other banks and deflating the FTSE 100 index by more than 100 points by midday. The bank's stock fell 36%, bringing the loss to 78% of its value in the past year. The spreading malaise is...

Brits Panic Over Credit Crisis
Brits Panic Over Credit Crisis

Brits Panic Over Credit Crisis

UK is extra vulnerable to the credit crunch

(Newser) - The US credit crisis is sending Britain's buy-now-pay-later economy into apoplexy, with Brits lining up by the thousands outside branches of troubled bank Northern Rock to withdraw their savings in spite of an unprecedented government bailout. Analysts say that the nation's borrowing habits leave the economy vulnerable. "I think...

Bank of England Props Up Mortgage Lender

Northern Rock shares dive, panicking patrons

(Newser) - Shares of Northern Rock fell 25% today on news that the group, Britain's fifth-largest mortgage lender, got an emergency shot of cash from the Bank of England last night. As worried customers lined up outside Northern Rock branches, the central bank's chancellor urged calm. "At the moment there is...

19 Stories