RBS and HBOS were on brink of collapse - King

clock

Bank of England governor, Mervyn King, says RBS and HBOS were within hours of a liquidity shortfall on 6 October 2008, and the day after, as the country's financial system came to the brink of collapse.

Bloomberg reports King as saying "two of our major banks which had had difficulty in obtaining funding could raise money only for one week then only for one day, and then on that Monday and Tuesday it was not possible even for those two banks really to be confident they could get to the end of the day," in an interview to be broadcast later today by the BBC. The BBC says King was referring to Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS, correcting its original press release which said Lloyds TSB had been one of the banks involved. King was interviewed for the BBC program, The Love of Money, which...

To continue reading this article...

Join Professional Adviser for free

  • Unlimited access to real-time news, industry insights and market intelligence
  • Stay ahead of the curve with spotlights on emerging trends and technologies
  • Receive breaking news stories straight to your inbox in the daily newsletters
  • Make smart business decisions with the latest developments in regulation, investing retirement and protection
  • Members-only access to the editor’s weekly Friday commentary
  • Be the first to hear about our events and awards programmes

Join

 

Already a Professional Adviser member?

Login

More on Economics / Markets

UK inflation falls to 3% to give BoE 'green light' for rate cut

UK inflation falls to 3% to give BoE 'green light' for rate cut

In line with expectations

Michael Nelson
clock 18 February 2026 • 2 min read
Interest rate cuts expected after UK GDP edges up 0.1%

Interest rate cuts expected after UK GDP edges up 0.1%

Construction output lowest since 2021

Patrick Brusnahan
clock 12 February 2026 • 2 min read
Leaked Budget document viewed almost 25,000 times ahead of speech

Leaked Budget document viewed almost 25,000 times ahead of speech

Office for Budget Responsibility chair Richard Hughes quit as a result

Jenna Brown
clock 11 February 2026 • 2 min read