Word: rock
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That's left Northern Rock hanging. But while the bank may have been brazen to rely so heavily on the markets, as a solvent lender with a good quality loan book, the hit it has taken from the subprime mess was unexpected. While French, German and Dutch banks have come clean in recent weeks over their direct exposure to low-quality U.S. real estate loans, it was the barren money markets those loans helped create that upset Northern Rock's model...
...fact that Northern Rock has never really been in serious danger of going bust throughout this crisis scarcely mattered amid the clamor to withdraw funds. "When people hear the words 'emergency' and 'bail out,' then concerns outweigh those statements saying 'the bank's solvent,' " says Nic Clarke, a banking analyst at Charles Stanley in London. "It doesn't really matter if the rationale is right or wrong - they're voting with their feet...
...legal guarantee they will see their savings again if their bank fails. Higher insurance caps - in the U.S., for instance, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation guarantees depositors up to $100,000 - would have done much to thin the lines. Keen to avoid the kind of panic triggered among Northern Rock's savers, the Treasury, the Bank of England and the FSA are now expected to overhaul the insurance system...
...future change in the limits is little consolation for Northern Rock now. Although the bank runs have stopped, it still faces formidable challenges. The credit crunch and dry interbank lending market will make it more difficult for Northern Rock to finance new mortgages at competitive rates. And with its share price still in tatters, it could soon find itself bought out by rivals. (Its stock slumped again on Sept. 19, amid rumors of an imminent takeover bid.) Are other British banks similarly vulnerable? Less so, since they never relied on the credit markets to the degree Northern Rock did. Even...
...dollar is doing a disappearing act. Alan Greenspan, after years of artful obfuscation, has suddenly discovered a terrifying gift for clarity, warning that inflation will rise and house prices will tumble. Stock market volatility has surged. And now, feeding fears that the contagion is spreading, the British bank Northern Rock has suffered a near-death experience...