Northern Rock reportedly up for sale
NEWCASTLE bank Northern Rock could be out of public ownership in a matter of months if reports today that it will shortly sold are accurate.
The Treasury is said the be aiming to sell the state-owned bank to a financial institution or floating it on the stock market as soon as the autumn, it has been claimed.
Selling the Rock to the private sector at a profit would look good politically as it may help convince the public the Governemnt is bringing the credit crunch to an end .
Northern Rock experienced the first run on a UK bank in more than a century after it was forced to seek emergency funds from the Bank of England in September 2007.
It still owes £8.8bn of the £27bn it was loaned at the end of 2007. Since then it has cut its staff numbers and slashed the size of its mortgage book - its only real asset - to £100bn.
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