TIMELINE: HOW BRITAIN’S BANKING SECTOR WENT SOUR
21 February, 2008
Britain passes legislation allowing the government to nationalise Northern Rock after rejecting two private bids. Northern Rock is nationalised months after the Bank of England stepped in to provide support.
21 April
The BoE unveils the Special Liquidity Scheme to swap banks' risky mortgage assets for at least £50bn of government debt.
18 September
Lloyds rescues Britain's biggest mortgage lender HBOS in a takeover with the government sweeping aside competition rules.
29 September
Bradford & Bingley, the country's ninth-biggest mortgage lender,is nationalised. The Treasury said it would take over B&B’s £50bn mortgage portfolio and sell its deposits and branches to Spanish bank Santander.
13 October
The government bails out Royal Bank of Scotland, and the combined Lloyds TSB and HBOS, with a £37bn cash injection aimed at strengthening capital reserves in the face of the credit crunch.
17 October
Britain is forced to pump £20bn into RBS to shore up its capital position. Stephen Hester appointed to replace Sir Fred Goodwin as chief executive.
31 October
Barclay's raises £7.3bn mostly from Abu Dhabi and Qatar to repair damage from the crisis.
19 January 2009
Britain launches a second bank rescue plan, under which the BoE plans an asset purchase programme to buy private sector assets with a fund of £50bn.
26 February
RBS reports a loss of £24.1bn for 2008, the biggest in UK corporate history. The government injects a further £13bn, which could raise Britain's stake in RBS to as high as 95 per cent. The government asks Goodwin to give up an annual pension worth about £700,000.
27 February
Lloyds says HBOS made a £10.8bn loss in 2008.
7 March
Britain gets a stake of up to 77 per cent in Lloyds after agreeing a deal to underwrite £260bn pounds of risky assets in the Asset Protection?Scheme (APS)
5 April
Europe's biggest bank, HSBC, announces a record £12.9bn rights issue to bolster its capital ratio.
5 August
Lloyds sinks to a £4bn first-half loss, battered by a surge in bad debts at HBOS.
18 September
Lloyds in talks with government and regulators over alternatives to the APS. Lloyds plans to insure £260bn pounds of risky assets but it is regarded as too expensive.
28 October
EU approves a plan to break up Northern Rock, allowing Britain to eventually sell parts of the lender.
3 November
Lloyds and RBS outline break-up. LLoyds avoids APS.