By Vivienne Russell | 16 June 2011
The nationalised bank Northern Rock is to be put up for sale on ‘behalf of the British taxpayer’, Chancellor George Osborne has announced.
In a speech delivered last night, Osborne said he had received independent advice ‘that a sale process is likely to generate substantially the best value for the taxpayer and should be explored as a first option’.Returning Northern Rock to the private sector ‘would be a very important first step in getting the British taxpayer out of the business of owning banks – and a sign of confidence in the industry’, he added.
The chancellor confirmed that the sell-off process would be an open and transparent one and would comply with state aid rules.
‘Any interested parties can bid for it, including mutuals, which this government is actively committed to promoting,’ he said.
Osborne added that it would be ‘possibly several years’ before all the publicly subsidised banks could be sold.
Northern Rock was nationalised in February 2008 following liquidity problems in the latter half of 2007. In 2010 it was split into two companies – banking and assets – to aid the sale of the banking business to the private sector.
Northern Rock Asset Management will remain in government ownership.
