Bradford & Bingley have been nationalised. Under the terms of the arrangement Bradford & Bingley’s £50bn mortgage and loans book will be nationalised and Abbey (owned by Banco Santander) will buy Bradford & Bingley’s £20bn savings business and branch network.
The Treasury believes that selling Bradford & Bingley’s savings business and branch network to Abbey will “protect savers’ money and ensure that Bradford & Bingley’s branches, call centres and internet operations will be open for business as usual.”
Bradford & Bingley savers will no doubt be wondering if their savings are safe. Bradford & Bingley currently operates under its own banking licence (Bradford & Bingley plc), whereas Abbey operates under its own banking licence. It is not yet clear whether Bradford & Bingley will retain its own banking licence.
Advice to savers remains that it may be best not to keep more than £50,000 with one particular savings institution. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme covers 100% of the first £50,000, per person, per deposit taking institution. If you want to be ultra cautious then you do also need to consider which savings account providers are registered under one banking licence, otherwise your savings will only be covered once.
TRY THE NEW ARE MY SAVINGS SAFE CALCULATOR
Related links:
Who owns who and who has a banking licence
What’s the level of protection offered to savers
Posted
Sep 29 2008, 09:28 AM
by
Stephen
