Bradford & Bingley nationalised

After a tense weekend of negotiation between the Treasury, FSA and the Bank of England, the Government unveiled plans to assume B&B's £41bn mortgage book, with a quick disposal of its £20bn savings operations and branches to Abbey and Alliance & Leicester owner Santander. The Spanish banking giant paid £612m for B&B’s savings division, which includes 197 retail branches. It now has a combined 10% market share of UK retail deposits – under its three local brands. Santander says the Bradford & Bingley name will be retained. The second nationalisation in a year following the Government’s...