Northern Rock

Northern Rock shareholders are to attend an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) tomorrow to discuss the bank's future.

The Conservatives have proposed the biggest shake-up of the Bank of England since its independence over a decade ago, with a new Bank Act designed to prevent a re-run of the Northern Rock crisis, The Telegraph reports.

Northern Rock has today agreed to sell £2.2bn of mortgage assets to investment bank JP Morgan.

Peter Hain, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, warned today that individuals must take personal responsibility by saving for retirement in order to avoid the nightmare of a pensions crisis in years to come, The Independent reports.

The Treasury is planning to give the FSA more power to intervene at a failing bank and prevent a future Northern Rock-style crisis, it was announced today.

Northern Rock is to hold an emergency meeting on 15 January to discuss its sale process.

Olivant, one of the two main suitors for Northern Rock, has said it will pull out of the auction for the stricken mortgage lender unless the bank's board agrees to recommend a bidder by Christmas, The Independent reports.

The FSA has blamed banks depending on credit rating agencies for their part in the credit crisis.

Northern Rock this week faces a mass sell-off by shareholders if as expected the stricken bank is ejected from the list of top 100 companies on Wednesday, The Guardian reports.

Northern Rock's small shareholders have given their backing to the latest bid from Lugman Arnold's investment group, Olivant.