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 40% from 438 pence to 263 pence. Later that day, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, announced that the British Government and the Bank of England would guarantee all deposits held at Northern Rock. Northern Rock shares rose by 16% after this was announced. The announcement by the Chancellor showed its intended effects the next day, as the queues outside Northern Rock's branches gradually disappeared. In addition, Northern Rock had a series of advertisements published in major UK newspapers to reaffirm that their customers' money was safe. In an interview on BBC Radio 4, Bank of England governor Mervyn