Government statement on Abbey National plc buying Bradford & Bingley’s savings business and the mortgage and loans business being placed into temporary public ownership.

Abbey National plc, a subsidiary of Banco Santander, has announced today that it has bought Bradford & Bingley’s savings business and bank branch network including its Isle of Man business. The rest of Bradford & Bingley, including the mortgage and loans business, has been placed by the Government into temporary public ownership.

Bradford & Bingley customer bank accounts have been moved across to Abbey National plc. You should continue to use your Bradford & Bingley banking facilities and can continue to withdraw cash and access your accounts. Banking facilities will be open for business as usual, with branches, internet and call centres operating as normal.

Mortgage and loan customers’ terms and conditions remain the same and you should continue to make repayments as usual.

Today’s decision to take the mortgage and loans business into temporary public ownership was made after full consultation with the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

This involves the Government taking a privately-owned business into public ownership.

The FSA decided Bradford & Bingley was not meeting regulatory requirements and so should close to new business. The Government decided to exercise powers to protect savers’ money by selling the savings business to Abbey. Bradford & Bingley’s other businesses, including mortgages and loans, have been placed into temporary public ownership in order to move towards a satisfactory long-term solution.

Bradford & Bingley consumer bank accounts have been moved across to Abbey National plc. You should continue to use your existing Bradford & Bingley banking facilities and can continue to withdraw cash and access your accounts. Banking facilities will be open for business as usual tomorrow morning, with branches, internet and call centres operating as normal.

These steps have been taken to keep customers’ money safe – customer accounts remain open and can be accessed in the usual way.

The authorities have taken this action to protect savers' deposits by transferring them to Abbey.

Abbey now owns Bradford & Bingley’s savings business and network of bank branches. The rest of the business has been transferred to government control. There will be no change for customers accessing their accounts. Over time the Government will look at the management of the remaining business to ensure that this is being done in the most efficient manner. Once any decisions have been made they will be made public.

Shares have been suspended on the London Stock Exchange and can no longer be bought and sold. As required under the terms of the Banking (Special Provisions) Act 2008, the Government will lay a compensation order detailing the arrangements for compensating shareholders and any others whose rights may have been affected by the transfer.

If you have any further questions please call the Bradford & Bingley helpline on 0800 11 33 33 or visit their website at www.bradford-bingley.co.uk.

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