(10 October 2008 – UK) The British government has decided to partly nationalise its banking system to ensure stability in the financial system and protect deposits and borrowers.After consultation with the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority, the government announced that it is bringing forward specific and comprehensive measures to ensure the financial system stability.
The program includes actions with the intention to provide sufficient liquidity in the short term.
It will also make available new capital to UK banks and building societies to strengthen their resources permitting them to restructure their finances, while maintaining their support for the real economy.
Finally, the program will ensure that the banking system has the funds necessary to maintain lending in the medium term.
The British government announced that it would invest £50 billion ($123.55 billion) of taxpayers’ money to buy major stakes in the eight major British banks.
The recapitalisation is part of a package worth up to US$875 billion (A$1.23 trillion).
The package also includes £200 billion in short term loans for the banks, as well as an issuance of £250 billion to guarantee loans between banks.
The major financial institutions that have confirmed their participation in the recapitalisation scheme are Abbey, Barclays, HBOS, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Nationwide Building Society, Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered.