Nationalisation of Northern Rock that Northern Rock was to be nationalised claiming that the private bids did not offer "sufficient value for money to the taxpayer" and thus the bank was to be brought under a "temporary period of public ownership". The government is the sole shareholder through UK Financial Investments Limited, and the Bank is managed at "arm's length" on a commercial basis by an independent board under Ron Sandler. Customers are not affected by this change. A Government-appointed arbitration panel will decide on a fair price for the compensation to be offered to investors for their shares. Prior to the markets opening
Nationalisation of Northern Rock by actively encouraging mortgage customers to leave when their mortgage deal matures. The reason for this change being government policy to increase the availability of credit. This £14 billion was split into £5 billion in 2009 and £9 billion in 2010. In March 2009 mortgages issued by the bank rose by 70%, compared to the previous month. In February 2010 "The Times" claimed that Northern Rock was interested in buying some of the branches of RBS and Lloyds. In February 2010 the government decided to remove the 100% guarantee of the deposits at Northern Rock. Savers received 3 months notice