Northern Rock

Parties interesting in acquiring the stricken Northern Rock Bank should not assume they will have access to Bank of England loan facilities it was announced today.

Northern Rock's share price is plummeting this morning after it announced weekend bids for the stricken lender were well below market value.

The Liberal Democrats have demanded that any buyer of Northern Rock should have to pay back its £24bn loan in full.

Potential buyers for the ailing Northern Rock bank must submit their rescue proposals by the end of today.

The FSA has begun work on measures to protect depositors originally slated for 2009 but brought forward in the wake of the Northern Rock crisis.

In a Treasury Select Committee grilling today, major ratings agencies were accused of failing to make clear their ratings were not an indication investors should buy a security.

Northern Rock's rate of borrowing has slowed considerably to just £500m this week, according to the latest balance sheet figures from the Bank of England.

The Treasury Select Committee is to re-interview Mervyn King, Alistair Darling and Callum McCarthy over the banking crisis which led to the near collapse of Northern Rock.

The Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, says it was right not to intervene too early in the UK banking crisis, which resulted in Northern Rock borrowing over £20bn of public money.

The Bank of England and Northern Rock expect the troubled bank to rack up £30bn in loans by the end of the year, the BBC reports.